An Eternal War
by IceWing
Summary: The Fight between Darkness and Light is a conflict older than man can remember. After years of hiding from it, a Veteran of the forces of light has come to Sunnydale, seeking a traitor. The Scooby Gang learns that their holding action atop the Hellmouth
1. Prologue

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story.

An Eternal War  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])

Prologue:  
Time: Early Tomorrow Morning....

The black of the night sky shone with the eternal beauty of the stars, 'Funny,' he thought, 'All this time, and the stars still entrance me. No matter which part of the heavens I gaze upon, the solitude of it always reaches into my soul and draws forth the dreamer, the explorer, who still dwells within.' 

His sigh left steam in the air, hanging there like an ephemeral ghost, then vanished from sight,

With a pleading gaze, he looked up, wishing, praying, that Someone up there was listening. "Will the battle never end? Its been so many years, yet I am still fighting the good fight. That's why we did what we did, so that others, another could take up the fight, so we could enjoy life. Live it to its fullest. Cherish it." 

The irony of those words struck him like a punch to the gut. In trying to free themselves from the battle, in order to live their lives, they had condemned hundreds, thousands perhaps, to the very life that they were trying to escape from. A fight which those unwilling successors had been far less able to fight. 

But they had. Without even knowing why, those countless warriors had each taken up the mantle and fought the good fight. Even though in the end, each knew they would fall, they still fought to try and keep others safe. 

"More noble than we were." he snorted derisively. 

But now, after centuries, the tables were turning, in more ways than one. The legacy he had helped create was winning, but as of yet, they did realize that even as they stopped every recent probe and assault, that the playing field itself was changing, altering, into something far deadlier. But these brave warriors knew not that the future itself was home to horror beyond imagination. Which is why they could not, must not, fail. 

With a smooth motion, he was suddenly on his feet. Another sigh escaped his parched lips. And so the fight continues. But now the enemy has a turn coat on his side. 

On of the creators, albeit a mere assistant, but powerful and devious none the less, had changed sides in this nearly eternal war. And that required that after all these years, that active measures be taken.

As he began to walk, a dusty cloud rose up from beneath his boots. 'An adventure,' he thought and his shoulders slumped. 'Why is it that they always portray the fight between good and evil as some kind of short lived skirmish? It was longer than even a Russian novel, he chuckled, an epic saga, which shall never end...'

"Unless we lose... Then its over..."

He continued to walk. "The fight continues, as always...." He looked around, seeing the desert rising up around him, the imposing stone mesas reaching for the sky that he longed to journey to some day....

"Now where did I park......"

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	2. Chapter 1

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter One  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  
Chapter One 

'Thrust. Parry. Riposte. Spin. Oh shit this is going to....' The thought was cut off by Giles' sudden impact with a nearby bookshelf. "Well," he said from his inverted and rather uncomfortable position, "I think perhaps we should call it a day."

His youthful charge offered her hand, helping the Watcher back to his feet. "You sure Giles? I mean, I would hate to get you in trouble with your boss for letting me skimp on valuable training time...." She flashed him a quick smile and he grimaced slightly.

"No, no. Quite all right I assure you. I believe that you have displayed an adequate level of skill in the use of the Bo staff for today's session." He hated cutting training short, but there were good days and there were bad days. Today fell into the second category. It did not help to be trained to the top of a myriad of martial arts when your sparring opponent and student possessed reflexes a cougar would envy and the strength of a grizzly. But he had a duty and so he would persevere. Tomorrow. Maybe Wednesday.

"Go along, I am certain that you do not want to fall behind in your studies, nor miss time for, how do you put it, 'hangin' with your buds', before tonight's patrol."

The Slayer tossed him her staff, which he had to fumble to catch in the bulky pads. "Major thanks Giles. Catch ya on the morrow then." And with that she sauntered out of the library, ready to do some heavy relaxing before the weight of protecting the world was back on her shoulders. 

Giles began peeling away his protective garments, making a mental note to order another case of Tiger Balm before the end of the week. He was almost out and it would not do at all for the school librarian to be coming in to work in the mornings walking and moaning as if he had received a severe beating. Even though he did. Daily. From a student. As he was walking back from the cage, having deposited the weapons in their secure location, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as if someone, or  
something were watching him. He kept moving, not letting on that anything was amiss, walked  
into his office and slid open the side drawer of his desk, his hand dropping inside it as he turned around  
calmly to look out across the library and see...

Nothing. Not a blessed thing. He sighed. Living in California, and on the Hellmouth to boot, he wasn't quite sure which was the source of more oddities, was starting to affect him. Maybe it was time to consider taking some time off. Summer was approaching. Perhaps he should head home to the hills and vales of his ancestral home. Gazing out over the heath always calmed him so. 

He slid the drawer shut and turned off his office lights. 'Let's see,' he thought as he headed towards the main library doors. 'Lights out in the office, check. Office locked, check. Weapons secured and cage locked up, check. No doomsday prophecies coming up this week, that's good. All questionable books on the shelves and therefore away from the prying eyes of students, check. Well,' he thought as he turned off  
the library lights and walked out. 'It may be a calm night after all.' And with that, the tweed attired individual departed the Slayerette HQ for the evening.

Behind him in the darkened room, a small observer watched, and a few minutes later departed, unseen, unheard and unsuspected.

**********  
Time: Late Tomorrow Afternoon  
Outskirts of SunnyDale.

The Mach One Interceptor rolled across the city limits sounding like an oncoming thunderstorm. The sound of Detroit's classic engineering echoed through the air. As it pulled into the first gas station, the car purred like the world's largest mountain cat. Behind the darkly tinted windows, the driver killed the engine. He looked out across the city, and was pleased by what he saw. Typical small city layout. You  
could lift it off the map and drop it just about anyplace in the country and it would fit right in. 

"Looks like a nice place. But I wouldn't want to live here...." He chuckled, "Hell, I don't even want to visit this place. But here I am, so I might as well make the best of it." 

The stranger then closed his eyes and Looked at his surroundings. The Power flowed here like it did almost nowhere else in the world. He opened up his body to it and felt it wash over him, through him. It was like high voltage and a lover's embrace rolled into one, and then amplified. The Power. It felt so good. So right. "Damn, I am not going to want to leave this town. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be able to walk all the Paths. Feels damn good." He flexed his arm, and felt a tingle as talents which  
had lain dormant for years responded, able to draw enough power to be used without almost killing him with strain. 

Enjoying the sensations which had been naught but memories for years, he stepped out of the car and proceeded to fill it up with high test. Topping it off, he walked into the station and proceeded to gather a supply of munchies and beverages before heading to the cashier. Pulling out his credit card, he watched as the clerk rang up his purchases, gas, and then declined the offer of a car wash. As the gentleman was walking to the door, the clerk commented "Nice wheels."

"You don't know the half of it," came the smiled reply. 

As the old V-8 engine cranked to life, the clerk turned back to his magazine. 'You don't see too many classics like that anymore." As the Mach One pulled out of the lot, the clerk glanced up just in time to see the New York vanity plate on the video monitor.

"LSTKNGHT"

"Weird...." And then he turned back to the article on the new space station. Swing shift always sucked.... 

**********  
"And so now do either of you have any more questions about the Maginot Line?" 

Xander yawned. "Nope, we got it Will. Big wall o' guns, guaranteed to stop anything. Kinda useless if the enemy pulls an end around. And speaking of end around, would my two favorite ladies in the room be interested in a bit of dancing and relaxin' at the Bronze?

"Xander," replied Buffy. "Willow and I are the only to ladies in the room"

The tousle hairdo teen gave one of those distinctively Xander-esque grins. "My point indeed" He offered his arms to his friends, and laughing, they headed out to party the night away.

The Bronze was already in full swing by the time they arrived. The bouncer waved them in, greeting the girls by name and nodding to Xander as he paid the cover for their entry. Inside, the music washed over them as they headed for an open table near their usual spot. Willow volunteered for drink duty, heading over to get a water for herself, no caffeine after that last incident, and pops for her friends She wished Oz was here, but the Dingo's had a gig a couple of towns over. A soft giggle escaped her lips, she wondered how a town could end up being named Angel Grove this close to the Hellmouth. Oh well, at least he'll be back for our date tomorrow night. She thanked the barkeep as she handed him the money, then careful wove her way back to the table, where she carefully deposited the drinks. Xander was staring out over the dance floor, practically drooling at the sight of some of the sexily clad girls on the floor "Later ladies, my fan club awaits" he mumbled and practically teleported himself to the dance floor. Willow slid Buffy's drink in front of her, noticing that the Slayer was seemingly preoccupied with something. 

"Buffy, are you all right?" 

"What? Oh sorry Will, just kinda got a minor case of, well, not quite the wiggins, and not quite my slayer-sense, but something, feels, well odd I guess Not really sure how to describe it Its like I know this feeling, but I don't That kinda tip of the tongue sort of thing." Buffy paused to look at her now confused friend. "Sorry I am just not really sure of what it is." She sighed loudly. "Its kinda irritating, I know I am feeling something but not sure what and now I'm repeating myself and babbling too "

Willow considered this for a moment, then put forth the idea that maybe they should ask Giles Maybe he would be of some help. Buffy opened her mouth to answer when the conversation was violently ended by the conclusion of Xander's attempt to fly. His apparent launch point was the drunken football player who seemed to take personal offense that Xander was dancing with his girlfriend. 

From his rather unique viewpoint on the ground, Xander realized that this was not a good situation. The football player was approaching and seemed to be intent on stomping Xander into a meaty red paste. He tried to roll to his feet, but an intense fiery pain in his side immediately convinced him that moving quickly, or at all for that matter, would be even worse than the imminent beating approaching. He closed his eyes, attempting to convince himself he would take the beating well, and not grovel for mercy, something he was extremely close to doing. 

And he waited. The sound of his own heart echoed through his ears Immediately followed by the sound of a large mass impacting into the far wall. He opened his eyes in time to see one of his least favorite individuals, commonly know as DeadBoy, offering him a hand up. Gingerly he accepted, almost immediately regretting it, but gritted his teeth and made it over to the table where he and Angel both sat down. 

"Got to watch who you dance with Best way to avoid really bad landings like that is to make sure to stay away from drunk Neanderthals. Capische?" 

Xander wanted to make a smart-ass come back, but his side was awash in pain. "Thanks" was all he was able to get out. Buffy gave Angel a quick kiss on the cheek before turning to her friend. "Xander, are you ok?" 

"It's ok," he responded. "The table broke my fall" His face was as white as a sheet. "Maybe we should call it a night," suggested Willow. Everyone agreed, except for Xander, who felt as if he was ruining everyone's evening. But the girls would not acquiesce and soon the entire group was walking home. In front of Xander's place, they all agreed to meet in the library after first bell, then went their separate ways for the night. 

Angel and Buffy were walking through the park, hand in hand. They had decided to make a quick circuit, patrolling for vamps before retiring for the evening. "Buffy, are you ok? You seem kind of distracted. Want to talk about it?" 

Buffy was silent for a moment, then stopped and leaned against a convenient tree. "Angel, do you ever get the feeling that something is going on, but you can't quite put your finger on it? Like its on the tip of your tongue?" He nodded silently. "All night, I have been kinda on edge. Like there is something out there, just outside of what I can see, and its bugging me. Maybe I'm going crazy, but I know, without a doubt, that something is going on, but there is nothing there." She sighed. "Maybe I just need some sleep."

Angel was silent for a moment, then told her that she should not discount anything that she felt. She was the Slayer, and as such, was more in tune with things around her than most people. Just because she could not see something didn't mean it was not there. Her intuition had saved her life in the past and would most assuredly would do so again in the future. He kissed he gently and began to walk her home. 

As they happily walked to her house, neither of them heard the almost silent chuckle from the unseen observer who was quite pleased with the way things were shaping up. 

The Day After Tomorrow 

The library doors swung open as Xander was in the process of pulling his shirt back on. Buffy and Willow both winced as they saw the tape encircling their fellow Slayerette's torso. Giles was in the process of putting away the med-kit. 

"Xander, how do your ribs feel now?" asked the Watcher.

"Better. Its only like being stabbed with a short knife now, as opposed to being skewered by a sword which is then hooked up to a power drill." But his face and the strained sound of his voice told the truth about how he felt. 

"Also," continued Giles. "I feel I must advise you not to exert yourself overly, nor add to the problem by allowing further damage to your ribs until they have had time to heal. Six weeks or thereabouts."

Xander grimaced. "You're right Giles, I will restrain myself from playing in traffic or getting beat by football players again, for a while at least " He turned and saw the girls standing there. "Hey ladies. Can you believe it? I'm actually here, not only on time, but early in fact Go me!" 

"Xander, are you ok?" asked Willow, the concern visibly evident in her voice. 

"Yep. Just a few ribs which the G-man"

"I have asked you not to call me that please."

" was so kind as to tape up for me so I would not have to go through the long tedious and possibly self-incriminating visit to the emergency room. Anyway, anything going on which could spell the end of the world as we know it? Or are we in for a boring night here in SunnyDale?"

"Well, as far as I have been able to tell, there are no prophecies, nor earth shattering events scheduled for the upcoming week. But as always, it is impossible to be sure, as the forces of evil have free will, just as we do, to do whatever they want"

"So, what you are actually saying," interjected Buffy. "Is that we can relax for a couple of days at least, without the world definitely being on the edge of destruction!" She smiled, a smile which usually boded ill for Giles sensibilities... "And since my mom is in New York for the week at some art event, that means..."

Giles winced...

"Party at my place!"

Giles winced again , remembering the last fiasco involving a party and a mask....

"Don't worry Giles," said Buffy as the Watcher was in the process of cleaning his glasses at a feverish pace. "Scooby gang only. Nobody else... I mean come on, just us, some movies and popcorn. What could go wrong..."

Everybody laughed, but Giles had a hunch... 

And he reached for his glasses again... 

*End Chapter One*

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	3. Chapter 2

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Two  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  
Chapter 2 

The sounds of a woman screaming echoed throughout the room. "Please, somebody help me," she could be heard wailing. 

The sounds of laughter erupted from the room as the slayerettes began throwing popcorn at the TV. This was their way to relax. With all the horrors around them, the best method they had discovered to relax and de-stress was to watch, and mock, the horror genre. 

"Run upstairs, now there's an effective way to corner yourself for the killer!" mocked Buffy as they watched Scream 2. "Girl, you have some muscle, get a weapon and beat the hell out of him!" 

As they watched, the sorority girl was attacked, then thrown over the railing... 

"Its not the fall that gets you," spoke Xander quietly from the couch. "Its that sudden stop at the bottom." 

"Jeez, and to think they are making a sequel of this... Guess Hollywood is quickly running out of even half way decent ideas." 

Oz answered his girlfriend's statement with "Running out? After 2 Flintstone movies, I would say they have hit bottom and started tunneling." 

As the banter, and the movie, continued, Buffy watched Xander out of the corner of her eye. He should be home, she thought, laying in bed. But he insists on hanging out like nothing is wrong with him. She watched the small dots of perspiration form on his brow, most likely from the pain he was in... 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. Outside the window. She turned to look, but there was nothing there. Buffy shook her head and sighed softly. 'I'm jumping at shadows...' 

Outside, in a car on the street, parked a block away, sat a man, eyes closed, watching the teens enjoy themselves. They seemed so calm and relaxed. Almost like normal teens. Except he could See that they were different. The glow about them was so intense that he could almost taste it. As he watched, he noticed the blonde, the Slayer, turn suddenly towards the window. He could tell she was searching for something outside the window. But a moment later, she sighed and turned away, or so it seemed. Although she was no longer peering out the window, he noticed the corner of her eye never quite left the window. "I'll be damned... She can sense, on some level, my spell. This girl is not going to be as easy an opponent for him to beat as he thinks..." As he watched, he saw the camaraderie, the tight knit bond, the group pattern these kids, these warriors of light, had. "Tis her strength, yet it is not.." 

Opening a pop, he kept his eyes closed and continued to watch. He needed to learn more. That, and he liked this movie too. 

******************

The movie was rewound, the TV muted. Oz and Willow had departed a few minutes ago in Oz's van.   
Xander was on the couch, seemingly asleep. Sitting in the bay window was Buffy, trying to figure out what it was she thought she kept seeing out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head slightly, glancing to see that Xander was resting ok. She should have chased him out, walked him home, but just didn't have the heart to do it. He needed his rest, with his ribs and all. Plus, he looked to peaceful, laying stretched out like that. Softly, the blonde sighed and continued her surveillance of the street. The night outside was still and tranquil. No cars, save for a red classic muscle car, had driven down the block in about fifteen minutes. It was like the world outside was on hold. "Why can't it always be like this?" she whispered to herself, her lip trembling slightly.

From the couch, Xander watched her through half closed eyes. The moonlight was shining on her, making her seem to shine like a mythical goddess. Of course, to him, she was just that. As he watched, he could see her thoughts wandering. 'I wonder what she is thinking. She looks so peaceful, so innocent. I wish I could see her like that more often. But she always has so much on her shoulders. The weight of the world in fact.'

Without moving, nor opening his eyes, Xander spoke. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Buffy shifted to look at him. "I thought you were asleep. Figured it was a good dream from that smile you had on your face."

"Was kinda in and out, almost day dreaming. Whatcha thinking about?" He gently raised himself to a sitting position against the arm of the couch while avoiding the answer to why he was smiling.

"Just this and that. Nothing special. Thinking about how quiet it is out there tonight. Wishing it was always like this. Whining to myself I guess."

"Well, if boredom is what you have, remember were we live. Wait a day or two, it'll be end of the world time all over again."

"Its just hard sometime Xander. No matter what happens, we never seem to gain any ground. Sometimes I wonder why I am doing this, other than the whole Chosen One shtick. Deep down, there is a part of me that knows there is only one way I am getting off this ride. And sometimes, it worries me." 

"Buffy, we all freak out from time to time. Just cherish the time you have as you have it. Enjoy the company of your friends, the simple pleasures and remember that is what you are fighting for." Xander smiled. "That's why you are such the effective slayer. Why you outlast others like Kendra and probably Faith too... You are fighting for something. For your friends and your family. The fact that Old Man Whedon across town isn't going to get to serve as a happy meal on legs because you saved the world yet again is just frosting on the cake. It has to be done, and frankly, I can't think of anyone I would rather have saving the world from vamps and demons." He smiled at her and waited.

Buffy looked at him. "So you are saying I should be fighting for my friends and family? That I AM fighting for my friends and family?" Xander nodded. "Ok, I can accept that. And I think, on some level, you're right. I happen to be the Chosen One. But the reason I do so well is that I fight from the heart. The day I lose my edge is going to be the day that the mantle gets passed on. So it's in my best interest to do a good job. So let me ask you this...Xander Harris, why is it that you fight? Not to belittle you at all, but you don't have any of the stuff that the rest of us have. No Slayer-ness. No magic. No Watcher training. No lycanthropy." Buffy pulled her legs up to her chest as she sat in the window and looked at him. "So why do you fight, Xander Harris. Why do you stand and fight when by all rights you should cut and run." 

The Zeppo looked at the Slayer, debating on how to answer her. The truth or something that would be taken as the truth without lying. He looked into her eyes and sighed inwardly. Didn't seem to be any way to avoid this one. 

"So," he chuckled. Maybe if he put some humor into this he could get out with his dignity and his secret intact... "The mighty Slayer wants to know why her Xander-shaped friend is still sticking his neck out eh? I have a reason, one very close to my heart."

Buffy sensed the hesitation in Xander's voice. "Xan, are you ok?"

Xander closed his eyes and sighed. "Yeah Buffy. I'm doing ok. Just thinking of my reason." He opened his eyes again and looked at Buffy, then looked away. "The darkness is out there Buffy. There is a light which I see and right behind that light, I see a darkness which threatens to overcome the light. You're right, I may not be the Slayer, or a witch or wolf-boy. But I see the darkness and I see the light. And I can't just sit by and watch as the darkness fights to overwhelm the light, while the light fights for its very survival." 

Buffy looked at him, looked in his eyes. There she saw dedication, a strength, pain and something else. But she knew, that no matter what happened, Xander would be there at her side. Didn't matter the odds. He would stand by her, fighting the good fight, until he was standing no longer. So she was going to do her best to keep him standing. She smiled at him, and he smiled back tiredly.

"Hey Buffy." said Xander as he yawned. "Mind if I crash on your couch?"

Buffy laughed. "Good night Xander." And with that she turned off the lights and went upstairs.

  
End Chapter 2

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	4. Chapter 3

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Three  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  
Chapter 3

Xander opened his eyes. 

"Ok, eyes open. Not in my room, not Buffy's house. Either I'm dreaming or I've been kidnapped. I'm hoping for the dreaming part." He looked around and found himself in what seemed to be a rather well decorated study of some sort. Books, lots of books. Seeing nobody else in the room, he began peering at the books on the shelf. One thing he had learned from being Research Guy, not to mention a slayerette in general, and a friend to Willow and sort of the same to Giles, was that you could tell a lot about a person from the books they kept. As he walked sideways along a shelf, he traced a finger along the spines, reading the titles out loud. "Richard the Fifth. Atlantis: Fact or Fiction. Aztec Religious Ceremonies. Walking Amongst the Worlds. Mississippi River Law."

"Kind of interesting that one." Spoke a voice from the doorway. Xander spun around to confront whoever, or whatever, was there. Through the doorway stepped a tall figure, clad in leather pants, a pair of Nikes and a white t-shirt. Rolled into the sleeve of the tee was something about the size of a box of cigarettes. But what really caught Xander's eye was the jeweled dagger attached to the belt. 

As he backed away cautiously from this figure, Xander examined him to see if this was an old foe or a new one. 'Let's see. Male. About 6'2". Slender but not skinny. Clothes could be from any time in the past forty years. No scars, no ridges or fangs. Old fancy dagger, which means possibly really old guy. As opposed to the late twenties which I seem to be seeing. Doesn't ring any bells, but definite caution signs.' Putting on a show of bravado, Xander pulled the book from the shelf and ran his fingers across the cover. "How so? Seems like a fairly dull subject." His eyes never left the man who was walking to the table in the center of the room. 

As he pulled out the chair and sat down in it, he responded. "Open to the middle of the book. You'll see a pretty good indication of what Mississippi river law was really like." As he finished speaking, he poured a glass of water from the serving tray off to one side of the table and watched Xander.

'Ok, he's sitting down. Not on this side of the table. No hostile movements. This MIGHT just be an innocent dream. Maybe.' With one eye on the unknown individual, Xander thumbed through the book. His eyes grew wide as he found the example the guy mentioned and pulled it from the book. "I can see what you mean." Holding up the antique revolver, Xander looked over it carefully. Seemed to be in pretty good shape. Markings on it, assuming its for real, meant this thing is from the civil war. Looking over the guy at the table, Xander made a decision. This was not an enemy. Enemies seldom inform you of hidden weaponry in their libraries. 

"Nice piece," said Xander as he walked to the table, still holding the book and pistol. "But I am going to go out on a limb here and say that all this is not quite what it seems." He set the book down, pistol on top of it, and sat down across from the table from the stranger. "Care to fill me in, or do we get to be cryptic?" 

"Not much throws you, does it kid?" The man chuckled. "I think I like you. The name's Harlequin." With that he offered his hand to Xander, who shook it cautiously. "I'm guessing you're kind of curious as to what is going on here?" asked Harlequin as he waved his hand to encompass the library.

"Well, now that you mention it, yes...."

"There's a long story and short story. What it boils down to is that I'm here to help. The long version, well, I'm going to hold off on that for a while, when we meet up in another library." Xander looked at him a bit oddly, trying to judge what exactly this unknown individual knew and didn't know. 

"Any particular reason I should trust you?"

"Well, first, this is your dream right?" Xander countered with a quip about nightmares being his too... "Fair enough. I assume since you hunt vampires, that you are wearing a cross?" Xander's eyes narrowed as he slowly nodded. Harlequin held his hand out, palm down on the table, and waited. 

Pondering this, Xander realized what he was being offered. He lifted the chain, with its small, blessed crucifix, from around his neck, and lowered it onto the still hand, where it did... nothing. 

Putting the chain back where it belonged, Xander responded. "Not necessarily a valid test, since this is a dream, but for now I'll believe that you aren't cousins to DeadBoy. Now, care to explain how you know about vamps and get to the point here?"

"How I know about vamps is part of the long version, which you'll just have to wait for. Suffice it to say, I know about them, about the Slayer, her Watcher and about you and your fellows. You might even say it is the reason that brought me here. And that brings me to why I am here now, talking to you. Xander my boy, I have some good news and some bad news." As he said this, he reached up to his t-shirt and removed what was rolled in the sleeve. A deck of cards, although not like any cards Xander had ever seen. Harlequin began shuffling the deck as he continued. "My purpose here, tonight, with you is twofold. First, I wanted to introduce myself. So that when next we meet, which I fear will not be under the best of circumstances, that the introductions will already be complete and I will be able to get things done, while there is time. Secondly, I need you here to I can do a proper reading for you. The Fates are not sitting still where you are concerned, and that worries me." He looked at Xander as he passed the cards to him and asked him to shuffle once, while thinking about that which was most important, then cut the deck. As he took the deck back, he looked at Xander. "I've been watching you for a while. All of you. Your group has something I have not seen in years. Something truly wondrous. But only while it is whole. It's a case of the sum being more than all the parts." He readied his hands to begin laying out the cards and looked Xander in the eye. "It's an interesting play on words. Whole and hole. Sounds the same, and can even sometimes look the same. Remove one, and you have the other. And with the wrong one, the center cannot hold. And right now, more than ever, the center must hold. Otherwise, its all for naught." A smile was on Harlequin's lips, but did not reach his eyes as he drew the first of the cards and began to read the Path's of Fate.

The first card he laid down was of a wizened man wearing robes and holding a staff. Xander blinked as the card was set down. The picture on the card was so lifelike that for a moment he could have sworn that the torches behind the figure were flickering, as if actually on fire. 

"The Hierophant. A new arrival who shall ally with you in your battle." Harlequinn laughed. "I guess that would most likely be me," he said as he revealed a second card. On it could be seen a pair of crossed scimitars, reversed. "An unseen enemy lurks nearby." He looked at Xander. "This is why I am here, for this foe is more than you have faced before." A single wand, tipped with amber, was on the third card. "A new strength. Something I hope to be able to teach you and your associates during my stay." The next card was turned over and lay down, showing a man and a woman, pressed against each other, holding each other close. "Love shall be revealed, but a heart shall be broken in the process." Harlequin looked at Xander again, setting two more cards down, one on top of the other. Ten swords arrayed in a circle, shining in the light, was on the topmost card, while a set of scales was underneath. "And I am afraid that broken heart bit may not be figurative..."

With a wave of his hand, the cards seemingly leapt from the table to the deck in his hand.

"Wish I had some better news for ya kid. But right now things don't look too good for the White Hats. And I wish that the next time I see you that it would be under better circumstances." Harlequinn shook his head. "Be seeing you around kid..."

And with that, the room and everything in it faded away, leaving Xander alone in his dreams. Alone and confused.

*****************  
Giles' cursed as the phone woke him up. Muttering under his breath, he picked it up to silence the ringer. He glanced at the clock before speaking. "It is now three in the morning. Whoever this is, you best have an excellent health plan, for I am planning on pummeling you severely." Even at this ungodly hour, Giles still had a thesaurus-like vocabulary.

"Is this the guy responsible for that blonde hellion who tears up my bar from time to time?"

"Who are you and how did you get my number? And didn't anyone ever inform you that it is far from considerate to be calling people at 3 am and asking them questions.?"

"This is Willy. And I..."

"The snitch?" interrupted Giles.

"Yes, Willy the snitch." The shady barkeep seemed slightly upset at the characterization, but continues, albeit in a huff. "Since you know about me, I am assuming this is indeed the tweedy guy who used to be known as the Ripper." Giles started to interrupt, but Willy cut him off before he could really get going.

"I'm only saying this once, so you best listen up. There is a vamp in town, holed up at the old Allied Chemical Warehouse on the southside. He's managed to acquire some kind of biological agent and is planning to dump it into the city water supply. Has turned one of the security guys so he can do it unsuspected, but the guy isn't going to wake up for another day or so. Since that little fireball of yours is such the hero, I thought it might be a good idea for her to stop him."

"Why in the world should I believe a wor...."

"Look you stuffed shirt! I may cater to the night life of this town, but I don't want the whole town dead. I have family here you know. So you better stop this guy before he can dump the stuff in the reservoir. And even though we've been on opposite sides, good luck to you and yours." And with that the line went dead.

Hanging up the phone, Giles cursed. Then grabbed for his glasses and cleaned them before putting them on. It was going to be a long day.

********

They stood outside of the door to the warehouse. The area was ominously silent. Even though they had been rolled out of bed an hour before dawn, all of them were keyed up. They knew that this was not the average run through the park. A vamp had come up with something really dangerous and had to be taken out quickly, before the idea spread.

"Anybody wonder why SunnyDale has so many abandoned warehouses?" quipped Xander. Glares from the rest of the group drove him into silence. Buffy looked at the locked door in its steel frame and motioned Oz forward. From one of his pockets, the musician produced a small vial and began pouring it onto the lock. Vapors rose from the deadbolt as a sizzling could be heard and the lock succumbed to the hunger of the acid. After about a minute, Buffy leaned against the door, careful to avoid the remains of the lock, and pushed hard. The door swung open with a muted pop as the deadbolt gave up the ghost. Silently the scooby gang moved inside, not realizing they were not as unseen as they believed.

Once inside, they soon came across a large room. At the center of it, sitting on a table, was a container the size of a briefcase, a large biohazard insignia displayed on all sides. Everyone gripped their weapons tightly and moved into the room. They had to either get the case and get it away, or dust all their opponents. Failure was not an option this time. As one, the Scooby Gang moved into the room, and the battle was begun.

The assault quickly became a swirling melee of combatants. At the head of the charge was Buffy.   
Before the five could even move halfway across the expanse of the room, the vampires were upon  
them. Immediately, they swung into two pairs, with Buffy acting as a roving member, bouncing  
back and forth as needed. Oz and Willow worked smoothly together. Willow would hold off the  
vamps with a cross in one hand, a super soaker filled with holy water in the other. A vampire  
approached, she would slow it down with the cross then shoot it in the eyes with the holy  
water. As the vampire was screaming in pain as its face burned, Oz would dispatch it with a  
stake to the heart. 

Giles and Xander had taken a different approach. Giles was armed with a wooden sword in one  
hand, a highway flare in the other. Any vampire who made it past the boken would soon feel the  
bite of the flare as their bodies were quickly consumed by flame. Xander was armed with a pouch  
of wooden stakes and a Roman short sword. With no wasted movement, he would slice off any body  
parts left exposed by his opponents. Arms, legs, fingers and heads, they were all dust before  
hitting the floor. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, he would hurl a stake through the  
heart of any vampire out of sword reach. 

The room was swarming with combatants. Buffy blocked a snarling vamp before it could claw her  
across the face. Grabbing its arm, she spun and yanked it down over her shoulder, snapping the forearm between the wrist and elbow. 'Thank you Steven Segal' she thought as she stabbed the screaming vampire through the head with a stake. 'You'd think dying would make em a bit more resistant to pain..' As the dust fell to the floor, she flipped across a charging vamp's shoulders, using her inertia to throw it off step and tumble to the ground.

As the vampire regained its footing, Xander lunged at it. Twisting to the side, the undead was able to miss being decapitated by the gladius Xander was wielding. While over extended, Xander saw the vamp turn to him, ugly as sin, and lash out with its booted foot. The kick took the Slayerette in the side and knocked him back into a pile of debris. 

'Oh, this is not good.' thought Xander as he tried to get back to his feet. Shaking off the shock of the hit, not to mention his less than graceful landing, Xander looked to see what the current status of the fight was. 'Oh shit!' And with that he charged back into the fray.

Giles swore. Xander had been knocked flying across the room, leaving him as the odd man out. Not normally a problem, but his highway flare was getting close to the point where he would REALLY like to light another one. Buffy was about 20 feet away and he needed somebody to cover him while he made the switch and lit the new flare. As he moved closed to Oz and Willow, he spared a quick thought to hoping Xander was ok. 

Willow was worried. Oz was calm. Together they had dispatched over half a dozen vampires. The numbers were more evenly matched now, but the good guys were still outnumbered a bout one and a half to one. Giles had moved in towards them, swapped flares, then backed over towards Buffy. The slaying continued, with only Xander really taking a solid hit so far. 

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught Buffy's attention. A vamp, game face showing, was charging at her. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed it was wielding the sword Xander had started out with at the beginning of the fight. 'This must be the bloodsucker that kicked Xander. No vamp hurts my friend and gets away with it.' Her hand tightened on the stake as she began a roundhouse strike. The sword was coming up, but she could tell that the vamp's aim was off.

'She still doesn't know its there,' screamed Xander to himself. 'But I'll get it before it touches her....' He smiled faintly as Buffy looked at him, into his eyes. 'I'm coming Buffy... Xand-man to the rescue again!'

Buffy swayed to the side slightly as the sword passed over her shoulder, moving to the side away from her head. She laughed as she slammed the stake into the vamp's chest. The vamp looked down at the stake, a look of utter disbelief on it's face. Before she could watch it turn to dust, something heavy hit her from behind, spinning her around. As she recovered and moved on to the next vamp, one of four remaining, she saw the vamp which had hit her from behind crumbling to dust. Pulling a fresh stake from her belt, she leapt onto one of two vampires harassing Giles. A short struggle later, she plunged a stake through its dead heart. "All bad guys should be self disposing. Makes the morning after so much easier."

Giles thrust the flares into the hair of the vamp he was dealing with and watched as its 80's hairdo went up in smoke quickly followed by the rest of it. "Too much hair spray," he commented before moving to assist Buffy in dealing with the last two vamps standing which were being held at bay by Oz and Willow. Moments later, the battle was over. 

Buffy walked over to the only foe not dust. The rest of the gang followed her. The room was still and quiet as the four mortals stood over the staked vampire. They watched as blood seeped from around the stake in its chest and leaked from its mouth. Buffy looked down at the undead, then at Giles. "Ok, this is new... Any particular reason why we are looking at a bleeding vampire as opposed to a small pile of dust?" As she spoke, the stillness in the room was broken by a breeze which was seemingly coming from nowhere. As the Slayer, her Watcher and the witch looked around for the source, Oz looked down. The vampire in question did not seem quite right for some reason. The wind grew in intensity, but only around them... Dust on the other side of the room remained untouched by the swirling currents. 

"Interesting..." spoke Oz as he watched what seemed to almost be glowing sand start to blow off  
of the vamp. Buffy turned to ask Oz what he was talking about when the stream of glowing  
sand-like particles being blown off downed enemy caught her eye. As she watched, it was almost  
like a fine layer of debris was being blown off an ancient artifact by the winds. She watched,  
her eyes growing wide as the process continued. Faster and faster was it spinning off into  
nothingness as it revealed... 

Buffy dropped to her knees and screamed, reaching out and wrapping her arms around the form  
which was no longer a vampire

"Oh my god! Oh my god..Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod....." She lifted his head and scooted forward so her lap cradled his head and kept it still... Tears were welling up in her eyes as she looked up at Giles, pleading silently for him to do something, anything, to make all this better. To make the stake, and the wound it caused in Xander's torn flesh to vanish. Her fingers softly brushed his hair off of his face as she whispered that she was sorry and that she didn't mean it and everything was going to be ok.

Willow stared down at the impaled body of her childhood chum and now best guy friend in the world... This couldn't be happening. Not now, not like this. As she watched, she could see his shirt soaking up the blood from the wound. 

'Salty, ' thought Xander as he coughed up some blood. 'This is not a good thing. Laying on the ground, being able to see the end , non-pointy, of a stake, which seems pretty well lodged in my chest. Kinda itches. Buffy smells good... I like being like this. Just kinda wondering exactly why she had looked straight at him then driven the stake in like that. She has such soft eyes. Feels like I could lose myself in those eyes. Man, that stake really is starting to hurt..' Another cough caused him to spit out some blood... 'Not a good thing to be spitting up blood like this..' He looked up at her, a tear rolling down his face, meeting his eyes with hers and as she continued to beg him to be ok. Being ok. Something he kinda doubted he would be ever again. All because of her. How could she do this to him. "Buffy," he whispered, beginning to feel somewhat sleepy... He tried to raise his hand, but could not move his arm. 

"I'm here Xander. Just hold on. You're going to be ok. We're going to get you to a hospital and they'll fix you right up. Its going to be ok."

He commanded his arm to move, and with a Herculean effort he raised it to her face and touched her cheek, leaving a faint bloody streak where it touched. "Buffy... Why?... " A cough racked his body, stripping him of what little strength he had.. His lips moved, but no sound came out. 

His strength gone, he smiled once more at his princess and closed his eyes. His hand was caught before it fell to the ground.

The scream of the Slayer pierced the night. But there was naught but darkness.

  
End Chapter 3

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	5. Chapter 4

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Four  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


SunnyDale Memorial Hospital

"One. Two. Three, Lift!" The teenaged patient was transferred onto the table by the emergency room staff. Time was critical in a case like this one. No one knew the extent of the injury which had been caused by the piece of wood protruding from the center of the chest. The pallor of the face and extremities indicated that there was internal bleeding, but already they had him typed and were setting up blood for a transfusion. His shirt quickly succumbed to pair of bandage scissors and was tossed aside. The blood soon seeped from it to the white cotton it was resting on. 

Doctor Pantovich looked down at the patient. This was not going to be a good one. It was a minor miracle he was still alive. If he was not mistaken, the piece of wood lodged in the boy's chest, had struck the heart. Even if they could get it out without killing him, there was not a great chance that the damaged organ would continue to function without tearing itself apart. Well, the first thing was to get this wound taken care of. 

With a deep breath to focus himself, he braced for a long night and called for the first instrument. "Retractors!"

***********************

As the doctor began to begin the operation to try and save Xander's life, his friends sat and stood in the waiting area, praying to whatever gods would listen that their friend would survive the night. 

The shock of the evening's events had started to wear off some of the scooby gang. Buffy was sitting  
on one of the hard plastic chairs, her legs draw up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were open, but she was not really seeing anything. Very softly, she was talking to herself as she rocked back and forth on the chair. Willow got up from her seat next to Oz and walked over to Buffy. Tears had left streaks down her cheeks. Buffy looked up at Willow just in time for her head to rock back from the slap delivered by the red head. 

"How could you!?" said Willow in a voice that was not much more than a whisper. "Wasn't it enough that you had done it emotionally to him? You had to physically drive a stake through his heart too?!?" 

Buffy recoiled from the verbal lashing that Willow was delivering. But it didn't stop. "He was always there for you, for all of us. But you would never recognize him for it. He always knew that he would probably end up dead because he was fighting by your side. We even tried to keep him out of it, but no matter what happened, how you treated him, how any of us treated him, he was there for you. But what's so sad is that he isn't going to die saving you like he wanted to, taking a shot to save you. He's going to die because you drove a stake into his heart even as he was stopping something from doing you in." And with that, Willow spun around and stalked out of the room. 

Buffy watched, tears rolling down her face, as Willow left. She didn't even notice when Giles wrapped his arms around her and held her shaking body close. After a few minutes, Giles pulled away and looked down at her. "Buffy," he began. "She's just upset over all this. Deep down she knows its not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Its going to be ok..."

The slayer, stripped of all her armor and defenses, looked up at the man she though of as the father she wished she had, her eyes full of tears. "I staked him, Giles. I should have know it was him. I looked right at him, and smiled and then I drove the stake into his chest. I should have been able to see. He saw me look at him... And I staked him...."

Buffy pulled away from Giles and resumed her rocking back and forth, tears rolling down her face onto her shirt. 

A hand gently pulled Giles back from the severely distraught form of the Chosen One. Turning around, he saw Oz standing there, his shirt also damp from where Willow had been crying on the way to the hospital. Stepping back a few feet, they began to talk softly.

"Giles, not to ask the obvious, but what happened tonight?"

"To be truthful Oz, I am not quite sure." The watcher sat down on the bench along the side wall, and began to clean his glasses. "Somehow, some one or some thing, managed to convince us that Xander was not himself, but instead a vampire."

"Magic?" ventured Oz.

"Most likely, but there was but perhaps fifteen seconds passing from when I lost sight of Xander to when Buffy... Till when."

"When he got put down," finished Oz, a trace of sadness audible in his voice.. 

"Yes. Now, assuming that was some kind of illusion spell. Of which I must say, if it was, then it was one of the most intricate I have ever seen or heard of. Assuming that, then whoever cast it had, perhaps, ten seconds to see his opportunity, ready himself, then actually cast the spell. I just do not see how something like that could be done so quickly. A spell of that magnitude, even if I had all the ingredients in front of me, would take at least two or three minutes to perform. And then it would not dissipate like we saw."

"So, whoever did this, is very good and very powerful?"

"Oz, who ever did this is more powerful and better than any caster I know. And," Giles paused to clean his glasses again. "And in their first attack against us, they have managed to tear us apart."

In silence, they waited.

The clock read eight a.m. when Doctor Pantovich came over to them. Oz woke the sleeping Willow, her head on his thigh as the doctor approached. 

Giles began. "Doctor, I am hoping you have some good news for us?"

Pulling the surgical cap from his hair, the doctor paused before responding. "I have news. We managed to removed the piece of wood from his chest. But it did alot of damage. It missed the major junction of the bronchial tubes, but did destroy several of the smaller air passages. Now, those may heal over time, its to early to tell yet."

"So he's going to be ok?" blurted Willow.

The doctor paused again, before meeting Willow's hopeful gaze. "Honestly, I don't think so. The wooden shard pieced the wall of the heart. The way it lodged kept him from bleeding to death until we got it out. But his heart stopped twice while we were working on him. There's alot of damage there, and frankly, we're all kind of surprised he made it this far. He's a fighter, but the odds aren't good. I'm sorry. I wish I had better news, but we've done all we could. Its up to him and the fates now"

The doctor looked around. "Are his parents here yet?" 

Giles looked disgusted as he told the doctor that the parents had been called but when informed of their son's condition, had laughed and said it was to late to drive over, and it wasn't like he was going anywhere. The doctor shook his head sadly. From the corner, Buffy asked if they could see him.   
Willow glared at her, the venom in her eyes enough to peel paint. The doctor considered for a moment and nodded. But they could only see him one at a time. He was being transferred to one of the ICU rooms and it would take a few minutes before they would be allowed in.

*********

Darkness. It was surrounding him. He could feel that the ground beneath him was angled. Every time he moved, he could sense he was sliding a little bit farther down. Instinctively he knew that sliding down this particular slope would most definitely not be a good thing. 

Xander Harris tried very hard to be a statue.

*************

Buffy sat in the chair by Xander's bed. His hand was in her's. But as much as Xander Harris would have loved to have been holding that hand, his was limp and unresponsive. Willow and Oz had left just before noon. Giles had volunteered to go get some sandwiches from the cafeteria for the both of them. Her eyes were misty as she looked at all the machines surrounding his still form. Machines which were keeping him alive. 

She looked at him. The bandages on his chest were clean. Hiding from the world the wound that she had inflicted on her best friend. Tears began to flow as she silently berated herself for not seeing what was occurring during the fight. 

In her mind's eye, she replayed the scene again and again. Xander coming at her, sword upraised, swinging to decapitate the vampire who was preparing to attack her from behind. The split second that the stake pierced his chest. She should have known it was him and not the vampire that it had seemed to be. Giles and Oz both had tried to convince her, but she knew in her heart that she should have known. That there was some clue she had missed. And Xander was going to pay the ultimate price for. 

She gently squeezed his hand, hoping and praying that she would feel some kind of response. But the only response was from the heart beat monitor with its never ending chirping.

"I'm sorry Xander. Please be ok. I didn't mean to hurt you." As she spoke the words, part of her flashed back to the time she had used him in the Bronze to make Angel jealous. It made her feel really small, having used her friend that way. Or the time he had asked her out, when he had so obviously opened his heart to her and she had spurned him harshly. All of the times he had done some small little gesture for her just because of the way he felt, and all of the times she had acted so callously. 

The tears increased. Her frame was racked by the sobs. This was all her fault. She squeezed his hand gently. "Why can't it be me laying there. He doesn't deserve this. Its not his fight. Its not fair!"

A hand gently squeezed her shoulder. Buffy looked up to see Giles standing there. He set the two cups of coffee down and sat down across from his youthful charge. "Buffy, do not say that. Xander knew the risks when he made the decision to stand by your side. He knew the odds were great that he would never survive past graduation. But he picked up the mantle and stood proudly by your side. Do not diminish his choice by second guessing it, and him. Be proud of him. He is a good man and I am proud to know him." Giles leaned over and hugged her. He was so proud of his charge. Of course he knew she was upset, but he would do whatever he could to assist her through these troubled times.

A knock at the doorway interrupted them. As he rose, Giles saw two uniformed members of the Sunnydale police force standing there. He patted Buffy on the shoulder and went out in the hall, closing the door behind him. 

"Is there something I can assist you with gentlemen?" 

"Yes, I'm Sergeant Green, this is Patrolman Stewart. We would like to ask you some questions about what happened to Mr. Harris."

Giles began to weave a tale of a street gang which had attacked them. Xander had thrown himself in front of one of the individuals who was about to impale Buffy on a section of wood and had taken the wound himself, thereby saving her. 

As they closed their notebooks and put away their pens, a doctor stepped past them and entered Xander's room. Buffy looked up when she saw him enter. Her face showed her concern, her guilt and her worry for her friend. 

"Hello young lady. Keeping your friend company? That's good you know. Its been shown that people tend to recover faster when their friends talk to them." 

"I'm just worried about him. He's my best friend. I don't want to lose him. He means so much to me."

'More than you are willing to admit, even to yourself I think.' The doctor smiled at her. "Well, I can tell you this, we're going to do our best to make sure that he pulls through. But I need to run some tests and check him over and it would be best if I could do so in private."

Buffy looked as if she would argue for a moment, but conceded and got up. Kissing Xander on the forehead she left the room. 

The doctor closed the door behind her. He rolled up and sleeves and looked down at the still form of Xander Harris laying in the bed. "Time to get to work my boy." And with that, he began.

Buffy stepped into the hallway in time to watch the departing forms of the two police officers going down the hallway. "And what did they want?" she asked as the door clicked shut behind her. 

"Same old same old. You know if the SunnyDale PD ever got a clue, it would have to be a sign of the apocalypse..."

"Buffy, how many times have I told you..."

Together they finished the sentence. "Never joke about the apocalypse on the Hellmouth."

Buffy began to smile, then broke down into tears again. "I just can't get that moment out of my mind. I should have know!"

Giles reaches for her, but a flash of light from Xander's room startled them both. Instinctively, Buffy opened the door, and was shocked at the scene she saw before her. The so-called doctor, who had seemed so friendly to Buffy a moment before, was now standing above Xander. His right hand was covered in a golden flame and he was pressing it on Xander's chest. Arcs of energy could be seen passing in waves over his body. As she watched, Buffy heard in horror a sound recognized by almost everyone. The sound of the flatline.

End Chapter 4

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	6. Chapter 5

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Five  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  
Chapter 5

It felt as if he was being torn apart. Or maybe torn together. Didn't make much sense, but he  
could feel something inside of him being pulled on with massive force. 

He dropped to his knees on the slippery slope, but did not move. His mouth was open, his lungs  
screaming for air as his voice just screamed. The pain, it felt like it was killing him. A  
small part of his brain reminded him that that could not be the case as he was already dead.   
Staked by the woman that he loved. As he lay writhing on the ground, he began to feel himself  
being dragged up the slope by some unseen force. For what seemed an eternity, he felt the  
pull. 'Well,' he thought. 'At least I'm not falling anymore....' 

Buffy stared in horror as the sound of the flat lined heart monitor echoed through her soul.   
Anger in her eyes, she leapt towards the doorway, intent on dismantling the man standing over  
Xander. And stopped. Or more accurately, was stopped. Barring her entry into the room was  
some kind of barrier, nothing she could see, but as she reached forwards, she could feel it,  
blocking her way. Her eyes seemed to flare as she watched the flames washing across Xander's  
body, watching them burn away the bandages on his chest. "No!" she whispered, as if her plea  
would make this horrible tableau in front of her wink from existence. She began hammering on  
the barrier which blocked her way. Rage fueled her strength as punch after punch was rained  
upon the mystical barrier. She could feel it weakening. And it served to focus her rage even  
more. Behind her, Giles had sunk to the floor, assuming a lotus position and was rapidly  
drawing on the floor with a felt tip pen from his pocket. He hoped, no, prayed, that he  
remembered the spell properly as he finished the circle and began to chant softly. His head was  
going to kill him in the morning. 

Buffy continued hammering. The barrier was dented, but she needed to breach it. 

Giles put the emphasis on the last word of the chant and slammed his fists together. A small  
bolt of energy arced from his to Buffy as his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped  
against the wall. 

Buffy's arm, for a split second, glowed with a blue aura, just as she slammed it into, then  
through the barrier. A tear appeared in the middle of the doorway. It reminded her of  
something from a Star Trek episode, energy kind of spilling off of it into the surrounding  
space. With both hands, she grabbed at the sides of the tear and pulled with all her strength.   
For a moment it seemed as if nothing would occur, then she felt it give way and the tear  
stretched the entire height of the door. 

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Buffy snarled as she dropped into a combat stance. 

The doctor with the fiery hand turned his head and looked at her. "Do you mind? I'm kinda busy  
right now. I need to concentrate, else all is for naught." 

Buffy's answer was to spring forward into a flying kick. Her opponent sighed and the flame  
which started on his hand and continued across Xander, flickered and weakened, then began to die  
out. 

Xander felt himself stop. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" When he began to slide  
again, he knew. 

Buffy smiled a feral grin as she flew towards her opponent, who was waving a hand at her. Hurt  
Xander would he. Oh, big mistake. The smile was abruptly wiped from her face as her direction  
seemed to change in midair. The wall broke her fall though. Flipping up from the ground where  
she landed, she once more advanced on this unknown adversary in front of her. 

"I'm going to ask you once more to back off." 

"And I'm telling you I'm going to kick your ass for what you did!" She lunged forward, just in  
time to be hurled across the room again by an unseen force. The wall was once again there to  
stop her before she went to far. It was with less grace this time that she regained her feet. 

Xander was sliding down the slope faster and faster now. At least that's what it felt like.   
There were really no landmarks to gauge his speed against, but it felt pretty damn fast. Far  
below he saw something take shape in the darkness. He peered at it as he sped towards it. Then  
immediately knew somehow that if he reached whatever it was, that the whole roller coaster ride  
would be over. For good. "Help!!!" he screamed. 

And immediately was jerked to a stop by the scruff or his neck. He closed his eyes to breath a  
sigh of relief. When he opened them, the slope, not to mention whatever was at the bottom of  
it, was gone too. In fact, he was in a pretty cozy living room. Lots of leather and what  
looked to be a big screen TV. 

"Not even a thanks. Typical." spoke an all to familiar voice behind him. Xander spun around,  
ready to lash out at the source of that voice. 

"Faith!" he spat. 

"Xander!" she said half mockingly. "Glad to see somebody remembers me." She stepped back from  
him, walking over to the black leather couch and collapsed on it. 

"What are you doing here?" Xander questioned, his tone harsh. 

Faith looked at him. "I could ask you the same question. Look, you might as well relax.   
You're going to be here for a while." When he made no movement to sit down she spoke again.   
"Look, I kept your ass from going down all the bottom of the slope here. At least hear me  
out." 

Xander debated this for a couple of seconds then sat down on the armchair and motioned for her  
to continue. 

"Saying I don't exactly have the best track record with ya is an understatement. One thing I  
have had since last we met was a shitload of time on my hands. So, I've been doing some  
thinking. Alot of thinking. About what I did, how I did things." She looked up at him, "How I  
treated some people. I know I can't change it. Hell, around here, not much you can do. But I  
am sorry for some of what I did. I won't lie to you and say I regret it all, but some of it, I  
do. I'm sorry." 

Xander nodded, not so much in acceptance, but in acknowledgment. "And speaking of here.   
Where exactly are we. I mean," he gestured with a broad sweeping motion. "This ain't exactly  
SunnyDale Memorial. Which is where we are. Or were. Or should be. Or, well, or something." 

The fallen Slayer nodded. "Gonna sound kinda weird. But SunnyDale Memorial is somewhere above  
us I think. We kinda slid out the bottom. Or at least our souls did, which is what I think we  
are." 

"And you figured this out how?" 

"Well, we're not dead. At least not all the way. Sometimes when I look out the window," she  
glanced at a drape covered wall. "Sometimes I see people falling. The angle seems to vary, but  
some who came down the same way you did, well, lets just say their clothes are a bit drafty."  
With that Faith pointed at Xander's own attire. He looked down and immediately pulled the short  
hemline down to the couch. 

"Umm, got anything I could change into?" 

Faith laughed. It was the first time Xander could remember actually hearing her laugh like  
that. Had a nice sound to it. "Just close your eyes and imagine what you want to be wearing." 

Xander looked a bit skeptical but closed his eyes and gave it a shot. When he opened his eyes. he was no longer clad in a hospital gown, but instead a black t-shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots. "Well, this makes deciding what to wear in the morning a bit more interesting." Faith smiled. 

"So," he said as he tugged on his shirt. "How did you end up here?" 

"Well. Not really sure of that. I remember the fight between me and B. And falling on the truck. Then being in the hospital. Then, I was floating, sliding. Then I stopped. Right about where we are now." She paused.

After a second, he looked up to see what was keeping Faith from continuing. He saw that she was staring into space. "Faith? You ok?"

She shook her head slightly, as if to knock her thoughts back into order. "Yeah, sorry bout that, was remembering. Like I was saying, I stopped right about here. Didn't know what was going on. Couldn't tell you how long I just stood there. Eventually, I realized that I wasn't going to be going anywhere. Started to think about what was going on. What had bought me to this point. I got tired of standing there, said that I wished I had someplace to sit down, thought about this chair I used to have back in Boston. And poof, there is was. Kinda shocked me, till I realized that I was able to form things like that. Made this room as a place to relax. Got a whole suite now. Watched TV for a while, but I'm limited to either shows I have seen or imagining new ones. The only creativity here is me, well, now, us. But that got old after a while. Ya can only handle so much TV. So I started thinking." She paused and looked at Xander, then looked down. "Since I got here, I know that I have messed up where you guys are concerned. You especially. I've had alot of time to think about things here. I can't say I'm proud of everything that I did. Made some pretty rank choices. I can't say I regret it all. But some of it I do."

Xander looked at her intently. "Faith, not that I don't appreciate you talking to me. Or saving my butt, believe me I am very appreciative for that. But why're you telling me this. Its not like we're exactly tight."

"I know that. And see, that's one of the things that I fouled up on. Time and time again, you guys offered me friendship, and I spurned it every time."

"Right, and this is why you tried to kill me? Pardon me while I scoff!"

Faith sighed. "Don't suppose a sorry would really convince you? Look, I know I fucked up, ok? Does that make you happy? I admit it, I screwed things up so badly, and I really don't expect you will believe me. But I need to say it. I think that's part of why I stopped instead of going on to the bottom of the well here. Cuz I need to put some things right with some people."

The Zeppo looked at the fallen Slayer. He knew that he shouldn't believe her. That something was amiss here. But as he looked at her looking away from him, he realized that for the first time he had ever seen, Faith's armor, the sarcastic and caustic shell she keep up around her to keep anyone from getting close, was gone. And what he saw reminded him of what he often felt himself. A scared teen, who didn't know how to handle everything life was throwing up as obstacles. He stood up and crossed the distance to the couch and sat down next to her. "Faith?" he questioned. She looked up, expecting him to tear into her. God knew he had the right after all she had done to him and his friends. "From what you told me, we're probably going to be here for a while." She nodded. "In that case, tell ya what. If you don't mind being around a quasi-dead guy, I'm here for you." He smiled and for the first time in years, Faith didn't feel quite as alone.

Buffy dropped back into her stance once back on her feet. 'Ok,' she thought as she felt the pain in her back where she had hit the wall. Twice. 'New plan.' 

"So let me get this straight?" said Xander around a mouthful of twinkie. "The whole working for the Mayor thing was the result of 'seemed like a good idea at the time'?"

Faith looked down at her chocolate sundae and nodded. "When I was in Boston as a kid. The part of town I was living in, if you want to call it that, was run by a gang called the Trogs. As gangs went, they were a cut above. Protection money only. No drugs, no drivebys. You paid your dues and nobody hassled you. And I mean nobody." Xander looked at her as if to say, is the point coming soon... Faith chuckled. "Lemme give you an example. About two years before I bailed, there was a string of break-ins around the block. Including my pad. Some shit got stolen. All of us had been forking over the cash and thought it was some kind of scheme to jack the rates, so to speak. My bud, Jackie, got up in the face of one of the leaders. Bitched him out. That evening, all of our stuff was back, along with a video taped confession from the cat who snagged everything. Cops got him left on the doorstep along with a copy of the tape. Everything's cool right? They kept their word and protected us. Well, a week later, another gang blows in. Takes out a couple of the locals with a firebomb, then leans on a couple of others for the location of the Trog's lair. Didn't matter that the Trogs did more to keep crime down that the cops, for less money to boot. They rolled on em and within a day, all the Trog's were in rolling drawers in the morgue. Including Jackie. She wasn't even a member, was just dropping off some grub for her beau who was. The cops said it took her hours to die. Had a pretty big impact on me. Coulda been me on that slab. Almost was. I'd dated him a couple weeks earlier. So right then I decided to always back the winner, otherwise, didn't matter how good you were or what you did. Somebody'd turn on you and that'd be all she wrote."

Xander looked at her. "Faith, we'd never have rolled on you. That's part of really being friends. We've put our lives on the line for each other dozens of times. Its part of the Scooby Credo. Right after the part about me always getting the donuts." He tried to bring a smile to her face, but she was torn inside.

"I want to believe you Xander. I want, wanted, to be able to be part of it. I just have a hard time trusting anybody but myself."

"You have to Faith, otherwise, you'll end up all alone in the end. Nobody there to watch your back, to lean on or help you when you fall. You've been alone for so long, both here and up top. Its not what you want, is it? Having friends means they'll never hurt you no matter what."

Faith smiled and thanked him. She was glad he'd been here for these past couple of weeks. It felt good to have somebody to talk to. Today was the first time they had really discussed her switchoff. Somehow he had known she wasn't ready and hadn't pushed it. Kinda hard to believe it had only been a day up top since she had slid into the coma. Guess the brain works faster without the body to slow it down. After all their talks, and alone time when she needed it, they had managed to forge a pretty solid bond of friendship. Sometimes she wondered what things could have been like if she hadn't used him that night at the hotel. B was a fool for choosing Angel over him. But she needed a friend right now, and that was what things were working towards, not another roll in the hay. What might of been , but oh well. She took another bite of her sundae as she pondered what he said. Friends won't hurt you, no matter what. She wanted to believe, but part of her mind kept insisting if it was true, then why was he here, while his meat body was upstairs, shards of wood driven through his heart. 

In motion again, Buffy advanced. No flips, no cartwheels, just moving forward throwing punches and kicks, trying to get past her opponent's blocks. She put everything she had into it. 'Aha!! He messed up. I'm actually going to get him!' 

And then in a heartbeat, it shifted. Her arm was being raised almost to her shoulder, behind her back. The room was spinning, no wait, she was being spun around. Not good. The sound of a blade being drawn and the cold prick of steel at her throat. Buffy could feel her neck indented by the blade. One move and her throat would be laid bare. Definitely not a good situation.

"Now," began the doctor. "If you are quite finished, I would like to try to finish saving your friend's life, if its still possible after your little interruption...." 

"Why should I believe you?" whispered Buffy.

"Because if I wanted you dead, your blood would be all over the walls and another Slayer would be getting the news that her life was about to go to hell. Now, do you mind? Or does Mr. Harris here lose whatever chance he has of recovery."

They were sitting on the couch, munching from a bowl of popcorn. It was Xander's night to arrange for entertainment. Star Wars, Episode 1 was playing and the surround sound was truly remarkable. Both of them found it amazing how they could share what they wanted with the other here. Faith found herself looking at him more than the TV. Which was definitely a trick considering it was a 94 inch HD TV. 'Yet another thing I lost out on up top because of my own stupidity. At least we've had some time to make up for not getting to know each other up top.'

Xander turned his head and caught her gazing at him. "I know its the third time this month we've seen it, but I still think the movie is more interesting that me," he said with a grin.

Faith looked down, then back up. "Do you ever wonder if we could have..."

Xander thought for a split second. "Ships in the night Faith. I'll admit that I've thought about it, but I'm not exactly known for my luck in love. Buffy, the praying mantis lady, the infamous exchange student episode, Cordelia."

'Me,' finished Faith silently. Taking a breath, Faith leaned over and kissed him ever so softly on the lips. After a moment, Xander returned it. 

"Are you sure that you want to...." Xander began, before falling to the ground. 

"Xander, are you ok?" Faith dropped to her knees beside him. His screams began to echo forth in the room. In the background, the movie came to an abrupt halt. Faith was getting scared now. "Xander, come on." 

Gasping for breath, he tried to speak. "Pain. Pulling. Up." Xander looked up at the only friend he had right now, tears of agony in his eyes. "Faith. Help. Me."

Not knowing what else to do, Faith wrapped her arms around him and held him close. The pain she couldn't do anything about, but she'd be damned if she would let him be alone right now. Maybe a little bit of a friend's touch would help him quell the fear which was so evident in his voice. 

Buffy watched over her shoulder as the stranger brought his fiery hand down on Xander's chest once again. The blade still was pressed against her throat. "Please Xander. Come back to me." she whispered.

Xander felt himself leaving the ground. Faith tried to pull him back down, not knowing what else to do. Something in his brain clicked and he knew what was happening. Through the pain, he focused and swept Faith up in his arms, locking them around her. Together, they were both lifted from the floor by an unseen force. The room fell away beneath them.

"What are you doing?" asked Faith as she wrapped herself around him and held on as tight as she could.

As they began moving upwards at every increasing speed, Xander smiled through the pain. "Giving you another chance." And then he leaned down and he kissed her.

The fire on Xander's body was burning itself out. Buffy still wasn't sure how, but after being on fire for what seemed to have been at least a couple of minutes, he actually looked better than before. 

"Come on lad. I put enough energy in you back twiceover."

"If he's dead..." Buffy began...

"A blade to your throat and still you have bravado. I believe I like you, young Slayer..." Before he could continue, Xander began to cough. Both smiled, but for different reasons as they watched this first sign of life. After a moment, Xander's eyes blinked opened and took the scene in before him. Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but Xander cut her off before she could begin.

"Harlequinn, please get her out of my room. Then we need to talk."

A stunned Buffy Summers stood there for a moment, hearing the anger in the voice of her best friend. "Now," repeated Xander.

Tears rolled down her face as the Slayer fled.

End Chapter 5

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	7. Chapter 6

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Six  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


Harlequinn looked after the fleeing form of the Slayer, then shut the door. "A bit harsh on her weren't we?"

Xander was fiddling with the controls on the hospital bed, eventually managing to get it to raise him to a comfortable sitting position. He looked at Harlequinn then shrugged. "Not exactly feeling all lovey towards her right now. Kinda hurt having that stake driven through my heart."

"If it makes a difference, she didn't know it was you. She thought you were a vampire. A vamp who had hurt her Xander in fact. Cut her some slack."

Xander paused for a moment as he digested this information, then continued. "Ok, I'll talk to her about it later. But right now, I need to know what the hell is going on here. How long was I under?"

"About 16 hours." A half smile, albeit sad crossed his face. "You've got about 36 hours till Graduation, or should I say Ascension."

"You know about it? How do we stop it?"

"Can't tell you that one boy-o." Before Xander could articulate his complaint, Harlequinn held up his hand and continued. "Look, I'm running a pretty big risk here as it is. This one is not my fight. The Mayor is a putz. You guys should be able to take him out. I did some research before coming here. You guys have faced worse than him. The Judge, for example. But if I interfere, then he'll get involved and that throws everything up in the air."

"Quick question, who exactly is the 'he' you're referencing here. It's not the Mayor, I managed to figure that one out. "

"Lets just say that he's somebody a lot more powerful that the Mayor and leave it at that. He's a turncoat and he started working for the Them. The rest I'll explain after you guys get your diploma's" He chuckled. "Graduation indeed. Xander, you and your friends are about to move to a whole new playing field. Now, get some rest. That spell I used to heal you with should have you back up to a hundred percent by morning, so you'll be in prime shape to stop the Mayor. I'll be seeing you."

Harlequinn turned and walked towards the door. As he opened it to step through, he tossed a small package over his shoulder to Xander. And then he was gone.

Xander caught the small object and grinned as he opened it. "Twinkies!"

The next morning, Xander was discharged from the hospital. He met up with the rest of the gang at school, albeit it a couple of minutes late. Buffy looked at him, something in her eyes, then looked away and began discussing her plan to take down the mayor.......

As the group broke from their planning session, Xander caught Buffy's eye and motioned towards the stacks. Once they were safe from the eyes and ears of the others, they both tried to speak at once. Xander stopped and motioned for Buffy to continue.

"Xander, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was you." Buffy threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. "I would never hurt you. You have to know that." Xander looked down at the young woman who had been the owner of his heart for so long and waited for her to finish. "When I saw the vamp, I  
mean, it was you, but it seemed like it was a vampire, and saw the sword... I was so mad. I thought it had hurt you and I was going to make it pay for that. Please Xander, forgive me. I'm so sorry. I would never do anything to hurt you."

His shirt was getting a damp spot on it from her tears, but he just held her. Inside, he was in turmoil. This was Buffy. The last three years, his heart had belonged to her. And now here she was, in his arms. This is what he had wanted since the day he first saw her. But another part of him kept replaying the scene as he watched her smiling face and she drove a stake into his heart. The happiness of the embrace versus the pain she had caused him.

He held her, but he knew that this was going to take some time to get over. If he could.

After a moment he pulled away from her and wiped her tears away. "My turn?"

She nodded with a faint smile. "Buffy, you know you mean the world to me. And I'm going to be by your side today in our last act as defenders of the class of 99. But you drove a stake through my heart. Even now as we're standing here, I can see your face as you pushed into my chest. And its not like this has been the only time you did it either. That dance, when I asked you out time and time again." As he spoke, her face began to fall. Xander started to feel like he was kicking a puppy. But he had to get this out if things were going to ever be good between them again. "I still love you. But its going to take me time to get over this. Ok?"

Buffy looked up at him, tears in her eyes again. Xander looked at her and leaned down, gently brushing her forehead with his lips. "Now, oh mighty Slayer. I believe we have some plans to carry out in the next few hours." She smiled at him and wiped the tears away. And side by side, but far apart, they walked out of the library, towards whatever their fates were to be.

Xander finished his walk through the brush to the spot. Their spot. His fingers brushed the rock where he had secured a small brass plaque he had made in industrial arts class. His eyes traced across the lettering as he made sure it was still firmly secured to the boulder.

"In Memory. Jesse. A true friend. Never to be forgotten."

"Hey Bud. Guess you know what today is." Xander paused as he sat down on the cliff's edge, his feet dangling in the air. "Man, I wish you were here right now. Tonight's Graduation. You believe that? I am actually getting out of here with my diploma? And, in the average twelve years to boot.  
Kinda tough to believe. But you knew all that. And as nervous as I am right now about what's going to go down tonight, it pales beside whats been happening the last couple of days." He sighed sadly, debating on how to continue.

"She staked me bud. Buffy. You know all about her. God knows I've babbled enough to you about her. She looked right at me and drove a stake through my heart. Well, into it, but close enough." He chuckled mournfully. "See Jesse, that's the problem. She's so damn beautiful. Remember how I told  
you how when I close my eyes, all I see is her smiling face. Well, I still her when I close my eyes, but she's pushing a sharpened piece of oak into my chest. What the hell am I supposed to do Jesse? This is the girl I measure all others beside. She's my Buffy. And now every time she gets close, I flinch back. In my head, I know she's not going to do anything, but that damn little voice in the back of my head keeps wanting to run like hell when I see her come close." Another sigh. "Life can seriously suck sometimes."

Moments passed in silence as he just watched the city as it lay before and beneath him. It looked so tranquil from up here. So peaceful and innocent. But in about six hours, if they failed, then hell would be coming. And there would be nothing to stop it. "Failure is not an option this time," muttered Xander as he looked back at the plaque.

"Man, feel like forever since I've been up here to talk to you Jess. I know it probably doesn't seem like that long for you. But I've been through some weirdness the last couple of days. You remember Faith? Yeah, the other Slayer. The one I told you went bad? Well, anyway, when I was out of it as a result of that stake I mentioned, I spent alot of time with her. Seemed like months at least. I think you would have liked her Jess. At least the reformed Faith." A typical Xander grin crossed his features for a moment. "Well, on second thought I think you would have liked her regardless. She is definitely a hottie. Its weird though Jesse. Once you get past that armor she has up all the time, she's so sweet. I mean, she's got spirit. But inside, Jesse. Its like everything she's been through has convinced her that being a bad ass is the only way to get by. And as a result, she's built up this shell and keeps everybody else outside. But inside there is this sweet lady who is so lonely. It was cool actually getting to know her. We had a blast for the time we were together. And she even likes Twinkies!"

Xander's watch beeped. "Well bud. I've gotta head back. Can't be late to the ceremony." He grinned as he stood up and patted the plaque. "Wish you were here by my side Jesse. Hope I'll see ya next week." And with that Zeppo left, vanishing back the way he came. Had he turned as the dust blew by, he would have seen the ghostly form of his friend giving him a thumbs up before fading from sight once more.

  
*Voice over by Harlequinn*

And on that day, the graduating class of SunnyDale High School, did band together. Led by the cadre which had protected them for the past three years, they defeated an evil which threatened to consume all that were in attendance, before moving on to spread chaos and havoc upon the rest of the world. 'Twas a fight that should have been sung by the bards, but alas, the epics of old have faded from memory. As have the bards who once recited them. As will the fight that occurred today. That these chosen few would battle, speaks well for the chances of generations to come. It shows that courage and honor, dedication and sacrifice, that these virtues have not fallen aside as time has marched on. The sacrifice of those who fell shall be remembered, even if by a few, in the dark days ahead. And the leaders of today's youth shall be once more the sole defenders for a period of time in this endless battle, this Eternal War, between Darkness and Light.

May their names be spoken with the honor they so richly deserve, as they hold the line......

End of Chapter 6

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	8. Chapter 7

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Seven  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


"So, where are we going to put all these books, Giles?" asked Buffy as she tried to maneuver around the stacked and packed boxes.

"Well, to be honest, I have yet to come up with an idea regarding that. I cannot simply leave them laying around like this. It is simply too disorderly for my tastes. Perhaps sell a few of the ones which we scanned into the computers a time ago, so that I may have a fund with which I may take some time off from working and relax. The rest, perhaps rent a secured storage facility and archive them there for a time."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Moving carefully through the man made labyrinth, Giles opened the door. Xander stood there, yet another box of books in his hands. "We left these in my car. Got a place for em?"

Buffy quietly stepped backwards, so that Xander couldn't see her. She wanted him to come in and sit down, maybe they would be able to talk. She had so much she wanted to say to him, but every time she tried to get him alone to talk, he bolted.

Giles stepped aside so that Xander could enter with the books. Finding a nearby stack which did not reach to the ceiling, he slid them onto it, making sure not to knock the entire tower of tomes to the floor. Xander sat down on the couch just as Oz and Willow entered, each with yet another box of books. Giles sighed and pointed towards the kitchen, which was both the only area with any free space left, and where Buffy was keeping out of sight.

Willow came around the corner with her books and greeted Buffy before the blonde could signal for her not to. Giles shut the door just as Xander heard Buffy's name. He could see how much Xander tensed at the name of the woman for whom he had pined for so long.

Buffy stepped out of the kitchen, her hiding spot blown. "Hey Guys," she said sheepishly.

Xander looked at her, then looked away, mumbling a greeting as he did so. Buffy tried to catch his eye as she smiled at him, but he wouldn't meet her gaze.

Giles was the first to break the silence. "I would like to take a moment to say how proud I am of all of you. Last night was a culmination of what you have been dealing with the past three years, and I am not simply speaking of your classwork. Together you fought a major demon and defeated it, saving the lives of your fellow classmates, now alumni, in the process. Congratulations and a hearty well done!"

The Scooby Gang smiled as they heard this. Giles was like a father to all of them and his praise meant quite a bit to them.

"Couldn't have said it better myself..." spoke a strange voice from the doorway to the kitchen. The entire gang spun around to find out who had spoken. From the shadows stepped a tall man, one that three of those present immediately recognized. Oz and Willow both examined him carefully, as this was a potential foe. Tall and thin, but with an aura of power around him. He moved with a catlike grace. His attire was stylish. Cordelia would have approved of his silk shirt and leather pants. Oz sniffed the air slightly, but otherwise was still. 'Damn, he's a hottie.' thought Willow as she took in his chiseled features and the well toned body under the tight pants. His dark brown hair was brushed back over his shoulders, while an earring could barely be seen dangling under one ear.

"You!" spoke Giles and Buffy as one, while Xander nodded politely.

Giles was the first to continue. "How did you get in here?"

Harlequinn walked back into the kitchen for a moment. The fridge was heard opening and closing, then the sound of a can being opened. Several seconds later, he reappeared, holding a glass filled with coke. "Xander over there can vouch for me, as can Buffy if she wants to..." He sauntered over to Gile's desk and hopped up on it to sit. He looked at Xander as if to ask if he was going to introduce him or not.

"Umm, guys, meet Harlequinn...."

Giles was furiously cleaning his glasses as he sat back down. Harlequinn took a sip of his drink before starting. "So, this is group of warriors that stopped an Ascension. An excellent graduation exercise if I do say so myself."

"And who would you be exactly?" questioned Buffy, her voice harsh.

"I, young lady, am the one who tossed you around a hospital room when you interrupted my attempt to save your companion's life. Now, if you would please stop interrupting me, I will explain my presence here, the reason why and what happens next."

"As has been said, my name is Harlequinn. Not the exact pronunciation, but reasonably close these days. I was born in an age long past, when magic was a part of daily life."

"Not human, are you?" asked Oz, already knowing the answer.

Harlequinn peered at Oz. "As a matter of fact, no. Think of me as a cousin though." He grinned as he brushed his hair back over his ears. Nobody understood what he was showing until his ears seemed to almost morph into ears similar to that seen on Star Trek. "Guess you guys have never seen an elf before..." he said to the stunned silence.

"There are no such things as Elves." said Giles. "They are the conjuration of faerie tales and bed time stories. In all of the time the Council has been tracking matters of the supernatural, there have been no mention of such beings."

"Granted there are not nearly as many of us now as there were when I was a lad... Probably less than a thousand in total right now spread across the world. But do you really think we would let what the Watcher's have become track us down? Plus, someone who hunts demons and vampires probably should  
realize there are kernels of truth in some of those tales."

"What do you mean, what they have become?" interjected Willow.

"Who do you think started the Watchers, little one? Let me tell you a story....."

"The world was not always as it is now."

"Yeah yeah," interrupted Buffy. "It was run by demons and was hellish. We know the story..."

Harlequinn turned towards her, his finger tips crackling with restrained power. "Interrupt me again Slayer, and you will find your mouth sealed shut for a day or so. If you think I am jesting, just try me!"

For a change, Buffy decided not to press her luck. 

"Now, as I was saying... The world was not always as it is now. Modern historians hold that civilization only truly began about five thousand years ago. In very scattered areas. I can tell you that this theory is wrong. I was born well over seven thousand years ago, in a city as grand as many you will find today. It was a time of magic, of power, of adventure. But darkness was coming. Our world is but one of many, scattered across the planes, dimensions if you will. Magic exists, I need not tell you of that. Like many things, it ebbs and flows. Does everyone here know what a sine wave is? How it has a set period of time to grow and shrink over a distance. Well, that is how magic is for our world. It rises and falls over a period of thousands of years. Now, we are on the upswing again. Until the peak, we have about two thousand years or so. But that's not going to matter for what we are discussing today. As the magic levels rise in the world, creatures from other planes are able to cross over into our world more easily. And survive here once they arrive. Some of the demon's which you fight fall into this category. Near the very top of the wave, the world has been, and will be again unfortunately, flooded by creatures more powerful that you can imagine. Creatures which can drive gods mad, that hunt ancient dragons for sport, that lay waste to cities defended by hundreds of warriors willing to sacrifice themselves to keep the innocent safe.

"These Horrors, as we call them, are evil. There is no other word which even comes close to describing them. They wish to make every world they come in contact with into a twisted reflection of their own. The Watcher's hold that the world was a hell, over run by creatures of evil. They are right, for as far as they go. What they do not know, or choose not to mention is that it is a cycle. One that we may have a chance of breaking this time. This world, the people who live in it, have developed in a way that has never before been paralleled in any of the three cycles which we have knowledge of. This time, there is a chance to win, to break it completely. To save our world and save billions of innocents from dying in the Scourge.

"The Horrors are evil, but they are also smart. They know that in time, Name Givers, humans such as yourselves and others who have not re-Awakened yet, could perhaps discover a means of salvation. So they found a way, soon after the magic had completely bottomed out and there was almost no magic at all in the world, to infiltrate across the netherworlds, the first of the beings which you now call vampires. When a human host is willing to become a vessel, the Horrors are able to summon into the body one of their own. This is how vampires are created, but it is old news to warriors such as yourselves. The plan was to use the vampires which resulted to keep mankind afraid and cowering. They failed.

"They had not counted on the fact that there were some of us who had survived as long as we did. At that time, there were about two thousand or so of us who had survived from those days of before, during and after the Scourge."

Xander, who had been listening intently, cautiously raised his hand. Harlequinn sighed and asked what his question was. "Ok, you saved my life. And I saw you in that dream. So, that right there is a major indicator to me that you're on the up and up. But how does somebody survive for that long? Old age keeps coming to mind."

"Well, some elven bloodlines can survive that long. Has to do with having a dragon in your ancestry." In the background, Giles almost choked on his tea. "That's about 95% of those of us who have more years than George Burns. The remaining few either were granted the, ability I guess you would call it, from one of a handful of magical items or were given a boon from extremely powerful beings. Dragons, spirits, the Passions..." He saw some questioning looks and waved them aside. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, as I was saying." Harlequinn paused and looked down, something close to shame on his face for those few who could read it.

"We were tired. Many of us had fought for thousands of years against them. A few had gone insane from all that had occurred over the centuries. In our hearts, we knew that the fight had to continue, but we couldn't do it forever. We wanted to be normal again. We'd all lost loved ones, both to the fighting and to old age. But we could never be normal if we were always having to pick up our swords again to stop Their plans." He looked up, his eyes on Buffy. The guilt and shame she saw astounded her.

"Several dozen of us gathered on what was then a large, mostly uninhabited island off of what is now Europe. With us we each brought several of our most trusted mortal retainers. For two lunar cycles, we performed a mystic ritual in order to shift the mantle of responsibility from our shoulders to the shoulders of others. And when it was done, one of the retainers stepped forward and was imbued with the power we had summoned during that ritual. Her name was Katrina. She was only fourteen but she volunteered to take the responsibility we wanted so much to get away from. So she was the first to be chosen." He looked at Buffy again. "The first Slayer."

"Our retainers agreed to be the ones in charge of her training and support. In the beginning they would stand beside her, as a kind of armed auxiliary. Over generations, the Watchers began to become more hardened and insular. After hundreds of years, only a few believed in the legends we had recorded  
for them in those early days. They forgot their origins, edited the histories. Mention of we who had created the Slayer and the Watchers was forgotten in the mists of time. We had achieved what we had wanted. For others, another, to take over as the world's champion, holding the line against the darkness, all alone in the night. So often, dying alone in that same night, as the world passed on, not knowing, not wanting to know."

He paused again, looking at the remaining coke in his glass as he swirled it gently. "We were cowards. In wanting to get away from it all for a time, we sentenced thousands, perhaps more, to die in a fight they knew nothing of. The Watchers knew so little about what was going on. And much of what we had left them was lost over time. But we had convinced ourselves that what we had done was for the greater good. But was it? Was it worth all those lives destroyed so we could claim we were owed the time off? I sometimes wish the idea had never been conceived.

"But it was. And there is no point in arguing that. The past is as set in stone as all the Obsidmen are today. Which brings me to why I am here now. One of the few who assisted in the original ceremony, for some reason, changed sides. We're trying to figure out why, but as of now, it doesn't matter. He did. And that changes things. The vampires and the demons associated with them have always had numbers on their side. But with the magic level as low as it is, the kind of brute force techniques they use just don't work real well. His defection changes things. He has knowledge which will allow their plans to have a subtly which they are unable to do by themselves. So, it is time for us to step back up to the plate as it were. It was about time anyway. Changes are coming and alot of us have been hiding, both from Them and from ourselves for too long. Millennia ago, we were heroes. Some of us forgot that. Some didn't. Its time for us to be heroes again."

Harlequinn looked the Scooby Gang over. "I have contacted some of my friends. They should be arriving soon to help train you, to maximize your potential. In your hands, we are placing great power, for you have already shown that you have the responsibility that normally follows such power. Do not make us regret teaching you." With that Harlequinn got up and walked towards the kitchen and out of sight. A few minutes later, when he had not reappeared, Oz went in after him. "Hmmm!" he said and a few seconds later, the rest of the gang was staring at the flaming letters hanging in midair which gave a phone number and the message "Call Me, We'll do lunch."

"Man can definitely make an exit!" said Xander.

  
Hours later, just before dawn....

The crescent moon shone dimly down through the ever brightening sky. Through the wooded glade of one of SunnyDale's numerous parks, staggered a pale, haggard figure. She was cold, tired and hungry. She rested against a tree, then slid tiredly to the ground as she tried to cover herself with the remains of her now torn leather jacket. She closed her eyes, a faint smile on her lips and drifted off to the first peaceful sleep she could remember in ages. A single word formed on her lips as she fell asleep....

"Xander...."

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	9. Chapter 8

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Eight  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


Chapter 8

Xander rolled out of bed, knocking his alarm to the floor as he did. Who would have thought that he would be getting up at 8:30 on the Saturday after graduation? This was supposed to be prime sleep in time, something he always valued. But Willow had planned a Scooby retreat today. All of them were getting together and were going to spend the entire day at the park. No demons, no vampires, which he reminded himself with a grin, included Angel. Just a day in the park, hanging out with their friends, just like the carefree teens they all wished they could be. 

"Guess I need to get cleaned up. 20 minutes. I can do this." He stepped over the duffel bag he had filled the night before with sports gear and stumbled into the shower. Grumbling, he turned on the water and stepped in. Six minutes later, and his parents having flushed twice, he stepped out, only mildly scalded. Minutes later, hair still damp, he had the bag in hand and was on his way out the door. 

The `57 Chevy pulled up to the curb outside Willow's. 'Ah, so many mornings over here watching cartoons.' He sighed. Anymore he felt lucky to get invited to the lunch table, much less over for breakfast. Beeping the horn, he began to adjust the ancient analog radio, trying to find a station which wouldn't be playing songs older than the car was. The haunting melody of Vertical Horizon's hit song rolled from the speakers as Willow bounced out of the house and up to the car. 

"Morning Xander."

"Hey Wills, where's your stuff? Time to roll for our fun in the sun day." Xander had a hunch what was coming next and sure enough he was right. 

"Well, actually, I called Oz and he's coming over to pick me up. I was going to call, but didn't want to wake up your folks. That ok?"

The Zeppo sighed again inwardly but kept his goofy grin firmly mounted in place externally. "No sweat at all Wills. I know you don't want Oz to think something is up again. Say hey to him for me and I'll just meet up with you guys at the park." 

Willow thanked him and bounced back inside. Shaking his head, Xander dropped the Chevy in gear and pulled away from the house which held so many of the few good memories he had. "Might as well face it Harris, you're the expendable one these days. The non-entity. God I hate it when Cordelia's right!"

  
An hour later, he sat leaning against the wheel of the car, staring intently into space. So far he had tried sitting on the picnic table, the swings and the teeter-totter bar, but the ground and the car still seemed the best. It let him look thoughtful, but not completely bored. Which he was. And had been. Since he arrived. 

"Ten minutes, then I bail." He said again as he continued whittling a stick down to a toothpick. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he saw Buffy's Jeep followed by Oz's van pulling up the access road towards him. Getting up, he closed the clasp knife and tucked it back in his pocket before throwing the mangled stick aside. 

"Hey guys, glad you found the place ok" He said as they rest of the gang dismounted and began to drag their stuff towards the picnic area. The bitterness in his voice was apparently lost on all of them.

"Sorry Xander," said Buffy. "We met up over at Willow's and stopped by McDonald's on the way. Hope you haven't been here to long."

Xander turned towards his car and pulled out the sports duffel. If he answered honestly, then all it would do would be ruin everybody else's day, so as usual, he sucked it up and told them it was cool, he just got here himself.

Within minutes, the picnic area was outfitted with drinks and chips, and music was playing from Oz's boom-box. The Frisbee was being tossed back and forth and laughter filled the air. 

Buffy spun to throw the Frisbee to Xander, then realized he was over at the table getting a can of Coke. She instead sent the disk gliding towards Oz. What was she going to do? He seemed so distant, but she wanted to, needed to, talk to him. Let him know how she felt. It wasn't McDonalds that had slowed them down this morning. It had been her needing to talk to Willow about it and making sure that the plucky witch was ok with her asking Xander out, maybe even asking him out today. 

Her train of thought was interrupted by the Frisbee going right by her. She turned her head and saw it drifting down a slope towards the woodline. Glancing back to Willow, she yelled that she would get it and set off towards the bush it had landed in.

She reached into the bush where she had seen it vanish from sight and felt around. Nothing. "Maybe it went through."

As she rounded the bush, she inhaled sharply. 

"Hey B. Lose something?" 

There stood Faith, holding out the Frisbee to her. 

"Faith!" She snarled and lunged at the second Slayer. Her sudden attack caught the brunette off-guard and she landed a full force kick to Faith's torso. A resounding oomph could be heard as Faith backpedaled, trying to gain some distance. 

"B. Wait. I'm" Faith didn't get the chance to finish as she was grabbed by the wrist, and tossed over the Frisbee eating bush. 

At the top of the hill, the sounds of the combat were heard and three disbelieving sets of eyes took in the same thing. All of them ran towards the fight, only one taking a second to grab a baseball bat on the way.

Buffy came leaping over the bush, intent on stomping on Faith as she landed. Unfortunately, Faith had rolled to the side and out of harms immediate way before Buffy touched down. 

The blonde Chosen One grinned almost ferally. She saw her friends were racing to her aid, not that she needed it, and she stood between Faith and the cavalry. 

"Faith! Buffy! Stop!" she heard from behind her as she unleashed a flurry of punches, which somehow Faith managed to block. 

Faith was strangely quiet, Buffy noticed. No quips, no banter. Oh well, guess it was up to her to make up for it. A sweep knocked Faith to the ground and Buffy prepared to unleash a crescent kick that, if it didn't knock her head clean off, should at least knock her out. "Should have stayed in the hospital you bitch!" She began to pivot.

Faith closed her eyes.

And Buffy was knocked to the ground from behind. She felt herself go tumbling into the underbrush as a something, someone, slammed into her with a shoulder. Shaking it off, she picked herself up and readied for the next round of the fight. 

And found herself facing Xander, who was brandishing an aluminum baseball bat and was obviously protecting Faith.

"Have you lost your mind, Xander?" hissed Buffy. "Get out of the way so I can deal with her!"

"No." It was so cold, so determined, that Buffy was actually taken aback for a moment. This was not the voice of Xander Harris. This was something else. And not something she wanted to deal with at the moment.

"Xander, move. Now!" The fire was in her eyes. She was going to take Faith apart for what she had done to Angel. 

"Buffy, so help me god, if you take one step towards her I'm going to have to stop you. And since you're the slayer and all, and I'm nothing, I'm going to have to hurt you to do it. Now just listen for a moment. She's not going to hurt you, or anybody else. She wants to change. She can change. I've seen it. But you have to stop trying to pummel her first."

"Xander," spoke Willow from the side of this bizarre scene. "She tried to kill you. And Angel. And all of us. She's a bad guy now. Let Buffy handle it." 

Oz stayed quiet, trying to wrap his brain around this situation.

"Willow, for the love of god, just shut up for a minute." His eyes never wavered from Buffy. "We've been friends for how long now? About 17 years, right? If that means anything to you, if you have come to know me at all, then you know that I am serious right now. Now please. Everybody just calm down and sit." Buffy made no move to drop from her combat stance. 

"I don't know what she's done to you Xander, but it'll be ok. Just put down the bat and let me handle this."

"Buffy, I have a news flash for you. You're not going to do anything. I am asking you, pleading with you, but basically, I am telling you. Step down. She's changed. I know it's hard to believe but"

"It's not hard to believe, it's bullshit. She tried to kill Angel. And us, and you. Get out of the way and let me do my job!"

"B. He's telling the truth. I'm sorry."

Buffy cut off Faith before she could finish her sentence. "Not as sorry as you're going to be!" She made a move towards Faith, just in time to get the end of the ball bat tapped against her solar plexus. 

"Buffy, I swear, next time you take a step towards her, you're going to either be limping or I'm going to be a world of hurt! What the hell is wrong with you? You think people can't change? Is that it? Seems kinda hypocritical and all, I mean you dating the Scourge of Europe and all! How many people did your lover kill in his day? Hell, he killed our friends, and still you go back to him. And you say that Faith can't change. You are such a hypocrite! Yeah, she's messed up, but if you can forgive Angel, why not Faith? Doesn't fit into your dating situation, is that it?"

Buffy was taken aback by the venom she heard in Xander's voice. What had she done to bring this on? "Xander, you don't know"

"Just SHUT UP!" he screamed at her. "I know what I am talking about and I'm sick of you acting like I am some kind of incompetent fool all the time. I have risked my ass I don't know how many times, but still you don't believe I can do anything. I've saved your life I don't know how many times, and I barely even rate a thank you. Come up with ideas, I'm still the god damn village idiot to you Buffy! And lately Willow seems to be thinking so too! If she had asked you to stop, or if Giles had, you would have in a heartbeat. But not Xander! No, he's to stupid to have a clue. I'm so sick of it! You want to blow me off time and time again, fine. Fuck you! Fuck this whole thing! I'm out! Find somebody else to get the donuts, save your life and then get shit on by his so-called friends!" He offered a hand to Faith, helping her up from the ground and steadying her. Keeping himself between Faith and the rest, he began to slowly walk up the hill, bearing his weight and most of Faith's. "You know what's so fucking sad? I loved you. Completely. With everything that I was, I loved you. And you were to damn blind to see it. Well, Buffy, I hope you're happy. You are not welcome in my house and I don't want to hear from you again. Ever."

In silence, he finished backing up the hill, his eyes never wavering from the trio standing in shock at the bottom of the slope. As his head disappeared from sight, Buffy dropped to her knees. Tears were rolling down her face as they heard, but didn't hear, the Chevy turn over then speed off down the access road.

Buffy and Willow stared at each other, terrified of what had just occurred. And there was naught but gut-wrenching silence between them.

End Chapter 8

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	10. Chapter 9

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Nine  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


Carefully, he opened the door to his basement apartment and helped Faith down the steps. She was leaning heavily on his shoulder as the descended. At the bottom of the staircase, Xander quickly glanced around, hoping that nothing extremely embarrassing was laying out in open site. "Sorry about the lack of five star accommodations, but my casa es su casa." 

Faith smiled at him as he helped her to the couch and she sat down. Actually collapsed would be a better description. "Thanks Xander." She looked down at her hands, then back to his eyes. "Thanks for everything. You stood up for me back there. Not many people would have done that, especially after what I've done to you." She looked down again. 

Xander stopped his frantic tidying of the basement after a couple seconds of silence and dropped on the couch next to Faith. He could tell she was hurting right now, but this kind of thing was not his specialty. A moment later, he lay his hand on hers and squeezed gently. "Faith. You remember how we talked all that time? How we talked about being there for friends? Well, you're my friend. And so I did what I felt needed done to keep you from getting hurt. In this case, it meant standing up to some people who I thought were my friends. And possibly getting my ass kicked if things went south. But I promised you that I would be there for you and I meant it. As long as you need me, as long as you want me by your side, to watch your back, I'm here for you." He wrapped his arms around her, and could feel the silent sobs that were wracking her frame. "Faith? What's wrong? I'm here for you I've got you. Nothing is going to hurt you right now. Trust me."

In response, she wrapped her arms around him and cried. A few moments later, she looked up at him through tear filled eyes. "You promise you won't bail on me Xander? That you won't betray me like every one else has? Don't say all this, don't make me promises you won't keep."

"Faith, upon my soul, I will not betray you. You and me, we'll watch each others backs and be there for each other, deal?"

The distraught Slayer sniffled back tears. "Deal." 

Seconds became minutes, then hours as the two exiles held each other close, as day became dusk, then dusk became dark. They held each other not as lovers, not as soul mates, but as two people who have nothing left in the world and were desperate to know that someone, anyone would be there for them in their darkest hour. They held each other as friends.

_Back at the park_

Oz came back down the hill to where Buffy and Willow sat in silence. "They're gone" Oz paused for a moment, looking as close to uncomfortable as his expression would allow. "He let the air out of both of our back tires We're not going anywhere till we get the spares on."

Willow stopped staring at the woods and looked at Oz. "Why? Why would he choose Faith over us? How could he talk to us like that? What gives him the right?!?"

Oz decided silence was the best answer. Even after two years, he and Xander didn't really know each other that well. Not that surprising when you figure that the only thing they had in common was Willow, and most people didn't really like hanging out with their girlfriend and the guy you caught her kissing when she was supposed to be going steady with you. But that was the past, and this the present. And in the present, there was a flat tire on each vehicle that needed taken care of before they could really do anything. "Buffy. Keys." Spoke Oz in his trademark monosyllabic manner. 

The severely depressed Buffy dropped her hand to her purse and fished out her keys before tossing them weakly to Oz. He caught them then went back up the hill to begin the unenjoyable task of jacking up the van and jeep, then putting on the spares. 'Well at least he didn't slit the tires, that would have been worse. All this really did was slow us down Which, of course was exactly what he wanted to do.' 

  
Harlequinn sat quietly in the study of the house he had leased. His eyes were closed as he silently drew a whetstone across the ancient blade which lay on his lap. The wheel has come almost full circle. Darkness was on the horizon. Beside him, a small figure winked into existence. 

"Heyas Bossman," spoke the small manlike creature. "The boyo you was havin me keep tags on done hooked up with some Powered chica and ditched the gals and dat lupine and done scrammed to his pad. Fells asleep on de couch dey did. Snugglebunnied and everything. What's you want me to do next, bossman?"

"Go back and observe. But stay out of the house itself. Those two deserve some privacy. Just keep me informed of where they are" The small creature nodded and winked out of existence. That was the problem with summoning city spirits The damn things always spoke in slang.

Eyes still closed, he sighed. Why did things always have to get some complex. Just for once, why couldn't things actually get easier? Bad enough the turncoat to deal with, but now there was going to be strife within the group just when they needed most to be unified against what was going to be placed in their way. "Shit!" he cursed. Glancing at the clock, he picked up the phone and dialed.

"I'm listening," spoke an extremely gruff voice from the other end of the connection. 

"It's me. How far out are you guys? Things are getting as rough and we may need to move up the time table a touch."

"36 hours or so. Sis had to pick up some items from one of our caches for these kids of yours. I hope they're worth what we're giving them, old man. If not" The speaker let the sentence trail off in silence. 

"They are. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Good travels my friend."   
  
"Be careful old man." And the phone clicked off.

'Well,' thought Harlequinn. 'Now it gets interestingJust like that Chinese curse Hmm, that sounds good. Wonder if any of the Chinese restaurants in this town deliver."

  
No matter which way she turned, the mist was there. Willow was getting concerned. This had started out as a typical dream. Studying, sharing a milkshake with Oz, some more studying. But then things has gotten weird. The room she had been in had faded away, replaced by this impenetrable fog. She had tried waiting, but that got boring after a few minutes. Walking didn't really seem to get her anywhere, so she had. 'Ouch!' She rubbed her shins and looked to see what she had run into. A picnic table. The mist was clearing. Over there were some swings. After a moment she recognized this as a park she and Xander used to go to years ago 

"What was I, chopped liver?" Asked a voice from behind her. 

Willow turned about calmly, then yelled happily and ran to the form that was standing there "Jesse? Is it you?" She abruptly stepped back, remembering where she lived. 

Jesse sat down on the top of the picnic table. "Yeah, its me, Willow. In the, well, I'd say in the flesh, but not really the case anymore, is it?"

Willow moved in and hugged him again. Jesse responded in kind, got up and began to pace as the Wicca sat down. "Willow, we were buds for quite a while, weren't we" Willow nodded, not really sure what to say. "Quick question before we get too much into things Name the person most important to you." Without hesitation, Willow responded that Oz was the most important person in her life. "Well, see that's part of what I am here to talk to you about." Jesse paused for a moment, then resumed his pacing. "Wills, I have to ask you, what does friendship mean to you? What do you think describes friendship?"

"Well, its about being there for your friends, even if its not easy for you. It's about being, well a good friend. Listening when the other person is hurting and doing what you can to help. It's hard to describe."

"Ok, so that's your definition of being a good friend. Then let me ask you this. If someone ignored you, treated you poorly, like Cordelia did for example, made lots of insensitive remarks and in general acted like an insufferable prig, what would think of that person?"

"That they were a jerk and that I don't like them"

"Well, now you know how Xander is feeling towards you and Buffy." 

Willow recoiled as if she had been slapped. "Jesse, don't say things like that! It's a lie. Xander would never feel that way towards us.."

"And why not, Willow? You, yourself said that he's not the most important person in your life. And even if you felt that he was, what difference would it make. You and Buffy and Giles, you have all excluded him, ignored him and generally treated him like crap. You pushed and pushed. Willow, Xander is like an old oak tree. The winds can be blowing at near hurricane force winds, and it will just stand there, not moving, not yielding. An icon almost of strength and stability as chaos surrounds it. But what you and the rest of them did, it took away the dirt from the roots of that magnificent oak over a period of months, then with one massive push, knocked it clean over. Now, Buffy and Giles and Oz, I don't know them well enough to really make any kind of judgement, other than they were blind to what was going on in front of them. But you, Willow You should have known better. He would have done anything for you. He's risked his life time and time again, and you didn't even notice that the guy you've been best friends with since you could walk was dying inside. All it would have taken to fix things was for somebody, any one of you, to reach out to him again like you used to. That's all he needed, for somebody to reach out and be there for him in the same way that he was always there for everybody else. But nobody cared Willow. Not his supposed best friend, not the woman he had fallen for, not the man he looked up to as the father he should have had. You knew that his parents were useless and didn't care for him at all. You knew that he had nobody. That's why he was always there for you and me, why the musketeers were so tight. Because he thought that if he was there for us when we needed him, that we in turn would be there for him when he was in need. That's why he was the one who held the scooby gang together. Did you know that I was one of the reasons that he threw his lot in this fight in the first place? He felt he had let me down by first letting me get turned, then by staking me. He told me that Willow. Did you know he came and talked to me almost every week from the time I died? By talking to me, even if I was dead, he felt like he was there for me, even though he beat himself up over my death. And in turn, I have watched out for him since that day. Because he is my friend, Willow. I owe him for what he did, staking what used to be me so that I could rest. And for that, and everything we had together prior to that, I am going to be there for him, in any way that I can be."

"Jesse, we're friends too."

"Are we Wills? I used to think so too. But since I died, how many times have you even mentioned my name, or even thought about me? You moved on, and that's good. It's part of life. But you also ignored the guy who stood by you time and time again. And for what? Because he wasn't able to cast spells or have super powers. Xander's magic was of the heart, and now you've lost that. I'm sorry for you Willow. But you and your other friends messed up pretty bad here. Now, in addition to fighting against the bad guys, you have to try and make right something which you destroyed through sheer apathy. I don't envy you or Buffy what you have ahead of you. For the first time I can remember, I think you have something to do which you're going to fail at." Jesse looked her in the eyes, sadness in his. As he started to fade from sight, he spoke once more. "Prove me wrong Willow. Fix it and re-earn his friendship. Or your world will be worse than you really deserve."

Tears in her eyes, Willow watched as her once friend faded from sight and was gone again. 

End Chapter 9

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	11. Chapter 10

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Ten  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  


Awareness returned slowly to his mind. Then he realized that there was someone else on the couch with him. Someone female. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he took stock of the situation. Her back was against his chest, his arms wrapped around her waist. Her bare waist. He still had his t-shirt on, so he wasn't sure about any of the rest of her torso. 'Please let her be clothed.' Cautiously, he opened an eye, and breathed a sigh of relief. Clothes. He hadn't done anything stupid during the night. In his arms, Faith stirred slightly. He could feel her breathing change as he held her. 'Now what?' he thought. "Definitely a new situation. I have just woken up, and I find myself on the couch, holding in my arms a young woman who I've been intimate with, and I am completely clueless.' He grinned. "What would Brian Boitano do?" 

"I never would have taken you for a South Park fan," said Faith sleepily. 

"Huh?" was all Xander could get out. "How'd you know what I was thinking about?"

A soft laugh. "You said it out loud."

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up. Was just trying to figure out how I could extricate myself from the couch without disturbing you."

Faith rolled off of him and onto the edge of the couch, allowing him to sit up and look at her. "Ask nicely?" she said with a smile.

Xander grinned back at her. "Well, that's one way I suppose." He glanced at the clock, and then out of habit, out the window. "Well, its morning. Guess we both were exhausted." His stomach rumbled ominously. "And I'm guessing you're probably as famished as I am." Another grin. "What say you to breakfast?" 

"You cooking?" asked Faith. 

"Well, although I am a passingly good cook, the parents usually don't have anything upstairs to cook with, so how about I offer to pick up breakfast at the restaurant of your choice. How's that sound?"

Faith looked down at her hands for a moment. Inside she was torn. Part of her wanted to accept, but part of her was screaming that it was a mistake. Reminding her what happened when she got close to people, when she let them in A slight sigh escaped her lips. 'No more running, ' she thought. 'If he wanted to take advantage of me, he sure as hell doesn't need to use breakfast as a gimmick. I mean, I slept in his arms last night, and he didn't try anything.' "Sure, what the heck. If there's free food, I'm there. Only problem is I'm not exactly presentable after all that went down yesterday. Got someplace I can clean up?"

Xander directed her to the bathroom on the main floor. "Its only 8 am, so the folks aren't due to get up for at least another couple hours or so."

After finding the bathroom and getting in the shower, Faith turned the hot water up to the point it was almost scalding and let it just wash over her. Last night had been a first for her. Falling asleep in a guy's arms. And he hadn't even tried something. She sighed deeply and looked around the shower for the shampoo. What was she doing? Was she really going to open herself up and let them in? She leaned against the wall of the shower, letting the water just flow over her. 'All you're doing is setting yourself up for pain, is that what you want?' She sighed and started washing her hair, trying desperately not to think of everything which was crowding her from every direction. Ten minutes later, she stepped out of the shower, wrapped in a towel. Sitting on the hamper by the door was a small stack of clothes with a small note on top. "Faith, didn't think you wanted to wear the torn up stuff from yesterday, so here are some t-shirts and a couple of button up that maybe you'll like. Hope they fit. Sorry but you're on your own for under garments and pants." Faith smiled and started through the pile to see what she could do with it.

After getting dressed and with her hair wrapped in a towel, Faith headed back to the basement, only to find Xander down there already changed into some clean clothes, his hair still dripping. "Ok, how'd you manage to pull off getting showered while I was in the bathroom?"

Xander grinned sheepishly. "Well, actually there is a shower down here too. The downside is that it has no hot water Anyway, I thought you could use the therapeutic effects of a steaming shower far more than I." He noticed that she had taken advantage of his offered clothes and was now wearing a black t-shirt and red short sleeve shirt which was tied in the front. "Glad to see somebody still fits in that stuff. One advantage of being a slob like me is you never throw out clothes which stopped fitting freshman year. But it looks good on you." 

Faith smiled at him. "Flattery will get you nowhere. I appreciate the threads. Kinda conservative for me, but I think I'll deal." She pulled the towel off her head and dried it vigorously for a moment then proclaimed herself ready to go. "Ready to eat?"  


'There are times I really wish we had not blown up the school,' thought Giles as he observed the distraught remains of his adopted family sprawled out in his living room. Putting his freshly brewed cup of tea down on the table, he addressed the teens.

"So, allow me to make sure I have this correct. Approximately eighteen hours ago, while the three of you plus Xander, were at the park, you encountered Faith. Specifically, Buffy encountered Faith. A fight, of which Buffy threw the first punch, ensued and ended with Faith on the ground. Up until this point, do I have the facts reasonably straight?" All three teens nodded. "Now, at this point, Xander, who was somehow armed with a baseball bat and was running slightly in front of both Oz and Willow, broad sided Buffy, knocking her and himself to the ground immediately before she could deliver a coup de grace to Faith. He then proceeded to verbally attack Willow and Buffy, and then subsequently assisted Faith to her feet and departed, flattening your tires so you couldn't get back before dusk. Did I miss or leave out anything in that summary?" When no response came, Giles sighed and reached for his glasses. "Not exactly a sterling situation we find ourselves in"

Willow piped up. "Maybe he's under a spell or could he be his evil vampire duplicate?"

Oz looked at Willow, then at Buffy and Giles and shook his head. "I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a moment, if nobody minds." No one said anything, so he continued. "Has anyone thought that perhaps we have been treating Xander like dirt as of late? Like, all year basically? Now, hear me out before saying anything. Willow, you and he were friends since time began. And Buffy, he worshipped you and the ground you walked on. Giles, you were one of the few adults whose opinion of him mattered much. I kinda have an excuse, albeit lame, that I caught him kissing my girl. But the rest of you shouldn't be all that surprised he split. Although I must admit that taking off with Faith was more dramatic than I would have figured on. But the fact does remain that he was speaking from the heart yesterday when he told us off. You can blame him if you want for abandoning the gang, you can blame Faith if you want, but maybe, just maybe you need to think about that chance that maybe the gang abandoned him long before now. And that Faith, already abandoned by everybody, saw what was happening and offered him something This is our fault, nobody else's."

Buffy stuttered, tears flowing again. "But we didn't abandon him. He has to"

"He's right" Whispered Willow as she looked first at her folded hands, then at Buffy. "We pushed him away, time and time again. We said it was for his own good, but it wasn't. We all said that he was the weak one and we excluded him." She looked down at her hands again. "You guys remember Jesse? Giles and Oz were drawing a blank, but Buffy nodded hesitantly after a second. "I talked to Jesse last night, or more like he talked to me. "

"Isn't he dead Will?" asked the Slayer.

"He visited me in a dream. He told me pretty much the same thing that Oz just said. That it was our own fault and that we.." Willow paused and wiped at her watering eyes. "He told me that I had to try and fix things, that we all did. Or things would be bad. Really bad." Willow began sobbing and buried her head in Oz's shoulder.

"But I was I mean.." Buffy tried without success to complete a sentence. "He can't just bail on me. Not now!"

"And what is so critical about now?" asked Giles. 

Oz explained, after a nod from Buffy, that the reason they had been late to the park the day before was that she and Willow had been in a discussion about Xander, an in particular, her feeling for him and what to do about them. 

"I was going to tell him yesterday at the park," sobbed Buffy. "And then" She was unable to continue.

"And then the situation went to pieces," finished Giles as he cleaned his glasses again.

"He can't do this. Not now!" she cried, almost as if denying it would make it all go away.

"As much as I hate to say this Buffy, I believe that we may in fact be responsible for this rather unfortunate chain of events. Regardless of any feelings that you may have allowed to come to light in reference to Xander, the situation seems to have reached critical mass as it were. We have treated him poorly, and I am curious, now that this has thoroughly slapped us in our collective faces, why Xander stood by us as long as he did."

"Inertia," said Oz. "Simple physics. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion." 

Willow nodded as she dried her tears. "We ignored him for too long. Even though we tried to patch things up yesterday, it was too late. The tree was already failing down. It just hadn't hit the ground yet."

Buffy looked as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest and stomped on. She buried her face in her hands. "What have I done?" 

But no one had an answer.

  
The fading evening sun glimmered across the asphalt ribbon as it wound its way into town. Down its length rode three vehicles, moving in concert like a single finely tuned machine. As one they moved, yet their outward appearances were sharply contrasting. In the middle lane, slightly ahead of the flanking vehicles was a sharply detailed Dodge Stealth. The dark tinted windows and black edging accentuated the fiery red of the body. On its right, and slightly behind, was what had started out its life as a US Army two and a half ton truck, now rebuilt to look like an extremely oversized sport utility vehicle. An SUV which looked like it could ram through Fort Knox with no more than some scratches, but an SUV none the less. On the left of the leader was a streamlined miniature winnebago. Its paint job was of a sunrise overlooking a forest scene. 

Inside the lead car, a gloved hand reached for the radio mic. "SunnyDale, 12 miles boys. Remember, no spell slinging Tyrell, until we know the ground a bit better. We've got a warehouse leased for HQ and a house on the outskirts of town. Remember, watch out for the Slayer and her friends." Two affirmatives came back over the scrambled frequency as the driver rehooked the mic. Her hand brushed over the sword laying on the passenger seat. A mission, a Slayer and a Rogue. 'When it rains it pours,' she thought as the trio speed towards the setting sun. 

End Chapter 10

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	12. Chapter 11 - Rated R

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Eleven  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  
  
Chapter 11 warning. 

Ok, I am warning everyone right now that this chapter is rated R for cruelty, blood, torment, torture, murder.. (flipping through my thesaurus) and gross desecration of a corpse. If you do not want to read this, and if you don't like this kind of stuff or it nauseates you or is against your religion or if you are under 17, please, go ahead to the next chapter. 

  
Chapter 11

He watched as the sun began to rise above the horizon. The morning rays cast a golden hue over him as he rose from the summoning circle, tea cups in hand. It had been an interesting conversation, albeit it not very informative. Most spirits tended to be rather out of touch with current events, but give an older one a philosophical question and what usually took about thirty minutes from his morning would sometimes take all day. Well, no time to loiter, he had work to finish today. He descended to his workshop from the roof access stairs and mentally steeled himself for the days work ahead. 

Setting down on the stool, he looked down at her. His fingers gently caressed her face. Such soft skin. Her brunette locks had become mussed and were covering part of her face. He carefully moved them aside, revealing her eyes. Eyes which were lit brightly from within. 

"Now Miss. I am going to begin my work. I would like to apologize in advance for any discomfort you may feel during the procedure. Its going to hurt quite a bit, but that is an unfortunate necessity as I cannot allow any substances to contaminate your body at this stage. If it is any consolation, and I somehow doubt that it will be, what occurs here today could save the lives of hundreds if not more in the years to come." He patted her forehead softly, and reached for his tools. 

Her eyes darted frantically around the room, panicking. This wasn't happening. It was all a nightmare. If she could just force herself to wake up. 

The touch of the intricately carved blade against her throat brought yet another scream into the gag which was firmly secured in her mouth. There was an almost cold sensation as she felt the blade slice into her flesh. Then the pain hit her like a freight train. Her muffled screams took on a new pitch as he pulled the razor edge carefully across her. 

As the knife worked it fateful task, he began humming the score from Wagner's Ride of the Valykries. 'She did have such nice soft skin,' he thought as he began peeling it slowly from her body below the neck. Her screams took on an almost inhuman screech, but he did not allow it to break his concentration. It would be a shame to waste such a fine hide. 

Once the skin had been removed and carefully placed in a storage unit, he proceeded to then, with exquisite care, pluck the eyes from their sockets. As he held them up to examine, he could see the light inside of them diminish. These too went into a storage container. The muffled screams had now changed to an almost inaudible mewling sound. Humming a ditty, the now blood speckled man began to slowly strip away skin from the breastbone. After a few moments, he could see the pinkish bone, exposed for the first time to the air. Changing tools, he began sawing away at the breast bone. The bone saw moved slowly through the breastbone, only slightly deepening the cut with each pass. Then suddenly, there was no more resistance. The bloody saw was set down and a spreader was put in place. With a sharp crack, he wrenched the ribs apart, spreading them wide and revealing the organs they once protected. As he studied the organs, he waved his hand to summon his assistant for the evening. The rather ordinary looking man gazed longingly at the ornate container which was slowly filling with blood as it drained from the victim, as he set down three containers, each with the Red Cross emblazoned on the side.

"Taste a drop of any of it and I swear that even your Progenitors will be amazed at the amount of suffering you will be subjected to for the next decade or so." With a series of small precise cuts, he sliced the kidneys and liver free from the now dying body. Setting them in the prepared chests, he muttered a small incantation and then closed the lids. "Now, take these to the hospital. Ask for Dr. Boreanas. The paperwork which is attached should allay any questions he has. Now, hurry up and get back here within two hours, I'm going to need some help for the next stage." The vampire nodded and scurried off, containers well in hand. 

Stripping off his gloves, he smiled and began washing his hands. Not only did this girl meet all the criteria he had, she was an organ donor to boot. Always good to do his part, even in circumstances like these. Sometimes he wondered if perhaps he was going too far in this endeavor, but in the end it came down to numbers, loose a few, save more. Machievelli was right.

Pulling on a fresh pair of gloves, he carried the heart, eyes and blood carefully into the next room. Suspended from the ceiling was another figure, arms bound above his head. At least he would not have to go on without his girlfriend, who had until recently been in the other room and was now reduced to bloody meat. Not fair to keep lovers apart. He smiled and greeted his guest, explaining that he was going to open up the veins in his legs and allow his blood to flow and mingle with that of his woman. It wouldn't hurt very much and that he should be thankful that no male hearts were needed for the ritual. The bound figure tried to lash out and kick the mage in the face, but to no avail. 

A small pierced metal tray was place under his feet, then an ornately engraved amulet was placed on it. On top of the amulet, still dripping with blood, was placed the heart from the luckless victim in the first room. Satisfied, he reached out with an ornate, golden bladed dagger and with two short movement, laid open both the major arteries in the legs. After a small chant and watching the blood drip for a few moments, and pleased with the aura which was infusing the amulet, he stepped out of the room and bolted the door behind him.

Outside the door, a servant was waiting. "Master Ezekiel, I bear news of the research you requested. The Slayer remains in town, however her vampiric lover has left the city. Of her remaining associates, one other has departed, for Los Angles, and another, the one which you arranged to be staked, is supposedly planning a road trip."

"Of these things I could have hired a mortal investigator. Have you any word of the lair which may lie within these hills? I shall have what was mine!"

"No Lord. There are several caves which show promise, but the tunnels and caverns in this area are infested with lower forms. We have to either bargain with them for safe passage, or destroy them."

"Proceed. I have waited this long. The arsenal of NorthShield is mine and I shall reclaim it. Lair or nest, it matters not. Report if any additional information is discovered. Otherwise, avoid the Slayer until I am ready to harvest her. I do not wish to take the time right now to replace any of my minions. Now begone with you." The servant bowed and scuttled away. 

Zeke sighed as he sat down at his desk, peeling his latex gloves off and disposing of them in the trash. Too much time had been spent on getting to this point of the plan for things to go wrong now. He wished there was another way, after all, the Slayer was special, but it wasn't like another would be called. That was the whole point of the Slayer project. A renewable source of warriors. This one was too much of a risk to his current plans to be spared. And as an added bonus, he could always harvest her for spell components. A Slayer had almost as many useful parts as a dragon. He laughed. Hell, if his research was correct, he could leave town in about six months with a cabinet of dragon parts and a Slayer to be harvested whenever he needed something obscure. 

Another sigh escaped his ancient lips. 

'It's for the best,' he told himself. Plans were in place to take care of the problems before they caused him too much grief. Yes, the Slayer would be taken out of the equation and her associates would all be used as parts also, but in the long run, what did a couple of humans mean to the big picture. 

With a faint smile, he set the timer on his desk and laid back for a catnap. Have to make sure to turn the amulet before the boy runs completely dry. 

And with that he drifted off.

  
End Chapter 11

  


   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	13. Chapter 12

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Twelve  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


The incessant beeping of the alarm roused him from his restful slumber. Bleary eyed, Rupert Giles mashed the snooze button down for the third time. It was too early for it to be time to wake up. 

It had been almost four in the morning before his youthful wards had finally departed. He wasn't sure why this situation was such a shock to them. Did they not think that the way they had been treating Xander would go on without some kind of overall reaction. He paused, forcing himself to be honest. They had not seen it coming, and truth be told, neither had he. 

Although things had been tense after Buffy had staked Xander, he had expected things to return to the status quo after a short period of time. But that had not occurred, and now seem extremely slim as an overall possibility. 

Giles rolled out of bed and padded down to the kitchen, robe flapping over his boxers as he walked. He had never seen Buffy or Willow this distressed before. They were simply spinning in reaction to the events that had transpired. Rather unsurprising when one took into account that they had both lost their anchor in one fell swoop. Perhaps there was something that he would be able to do to try and patch things up. Xander usually listened to what he had to say, and unlike the rest of the Slayerettes, he was not prohibited from visiting Xander's domicile. 

"After breakfast," he said as he steeped his tea. 

But with all his experience and knowledge, Rupert Giles was not sure that he would even get a chance to speak before the door would be slammed in his face.

Faith awoke alone in bed. Not that the situation was normally any different, but part of her had expected Xander to climb in with her some time during the night. Not that she would have really minded, but the fact that he had been willing to sleep on his own floor meant a lot to her. She rolled over to face the room and saw Xander sitting on the recliner he had, watching her silently. 

"Morning Faith. Sleep well?" he asked.

"What time is it?" she asked as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes. 

"About seven. If you want to head up for a shower, we can get out of here before the parental units drag themselves out of bed. Any ideas what we should do today?"  
  
Faith stretched like a cat on the couch before rising to her feet. "Well, I was thinking maybe check out my apartment and grab some of my stuff. After that, I don't know. Maybe try and figure out a plan. I mean, I'm not exactly on the Watcher's list of favorite people right now, and with the Mayor down for the count, don't have a lot of options left to me."

"Faith.." Xander stood up and stepped over to her, taking her hand in his. "Remember what I said. You can crash here as long as you want. No strings. From what I've picked up, you can't exactly go back to your folks." 

The air grew still between them. Faith met his eyes and a faint, sad smile appeared on her lips. She looked at him for a long moment, then gave him a hug. "Thanks for being my friend Xander. You don't know how much it means to me."

Xander just squeezed her hand softly and smiled. "That's what I'm here for. Now get upstairs and get cleaned up. I left a stack of some more of my old shirts and stuff by the steps and I bet the stuff you hung up in the bathroom to dry last night is done. So get moving so we can avoid the parents."

Faith grinned and headed into the bathroom, then upstairs a moment later to get cleaned up. 

As he watched her head up the stairs, Xander shook his head to try and clear his mind. It had taken just about all his control not to kiss her right then. But he knew this was the best way. Neither of them needed the added confusion of a relationship right now. But he had to admit, it had been damn tempting. 

Something to take my mind off all this,' he thought and took the steps two at a time upstairs and then headed out the back door into the yard for his morning exercises. 

Faith stood wrapped in a towel after getting out of the steaming hot shower. She was trying to be good. She was trying desperately not to mess things up with Xander again. He had looked so damn yummy downstairs. It had taken all her of her being to resist kissing him as he had never been kissed before. She looked at herself in the mirror. Both of them were on the upswing right now, and although it might be ok in a couple of weeks, now was definitely the wrong time to make a move. Even though she wanted to. And even though she was pretty sure he did too. 'So, why don't you just say to hell with it and move on what you feel?' she asked herself. "Because its wrong," she answered softly, but with conviction. 'Well, this is going to be a good test for myself. I want to change, and prove it, to me and everybody else, then I need to do things right. I can do this!" Quickly she finished drying off and got dressed. Clean bra and panties which Xander had been kind enough to pay for yesterday. Faith grinned. He had handed her a hundred dollars and said he didn't want to know, just to meet him at the arcade when she was done in Victoria's Secret. For the life of her, she wondered where he had come to believe that all women shopped for bras and stuff at Victoria's. Then she remembered that he had dated Cordelia and figured she was the type to only shop the name brand stores. And then make Xander carry all the packages all day. As she pulled on a t-shirt and her leather pants, Faith wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to dress like Cordelia did, in all those designer dresses and heels. Oh well, its not like it would happen again. After tying her shoes, running a brush through her hair and applied a lot less makeup than she normally did, Faith opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. She was about to head back down to the basement, when she noticed that the sliding door was ajar. 

As she approached it, she realized that Xander was in the backyard, wearing a tank top and shorts, doing some kind of morning workout. Sitting down at the table, she watched him intently, recognizing not for the first time that underneath those loose clothes he preferred to wear, that Xander had quite a nice physique going for him. 

His stretches complete, Faith watched as Xander began some basic martial arts drills, focusing on his kicks and blocks. After about ten minutes, he began doing some kind of kata, but Faith couldn't recognize anything about it other than it looked moderately difficult for someone without the curse of being the Slayer. As he finished and bowed to nobody, Faith began to clap quietly. "How long you been doing karate Xander?"

"About six months now. And actually, it's kempo, not karate. I got tired of getting my ass kicked constantly and so I decided to try and do something about it. Earned my yellow belt a month ago and can test for the next one in six weeks. Of course, doesn't help a lot when the guy I'm fighting is a demon and about five times as strong as me, but the vamps aren't getting quite the free punches they used too."

"Well, maybe we can spar sometime. I'd like to see how good you are." 

Xander agreed, then he headed back inside to get cleaned up so they could get moving before it got too late. 

Giles stood outside the Harris household, his hand inches away from the door as he paused before knocking. Steeling himself for whatever would occur next, he knocked. A moment later, after no response from within, he knocked once more. This time he heard footsteps approaching, then the door swung open, revealing Xander and Faith standing inside. He looked at them for a moment, and when it became clear neither one of them was going to say anything, asked if they would be willing to talk to him.

Xander blinked. "And exactly why should either of us listen to what you have to say, Giles?"

'Well, at least they didn't slam the door in my face,' thought Giles. "Well, to be honest, there is no reason why you should listen to me, but I am hoping you will both at least be willing to give me a few moments of your time and hear me out." 

Xander looked to Faith. This one was as much her choice as it was his. After a second of consideration, she nodded. She and Xander both stepped away from the door and waited for Giles to enter before they all headed down to the relative privacy of his basement. 

"Ok, we're listening."

Giles sat on the edge of the chair he had been offered and cleaned his glasses for a moment to gain a sense of confidence which, to be honest, he didn't feel at the moment. "First, I would like to say that I am sorry for the way both of you have been treated by the group. You both have every right to tell us all to sod off and go your own way. I am asking you both not to choose that path however." He looked up and met Faith's gaze. "Faith, I am not going to make excuses for how we treated you. Obviously, we helped drive you to the choices you made. I am offering my apologies to you and I would like the chance to at least try and make it up to you." 

Faith looked at him, considering his words, then responded that time would tell.

Giles then turned to Xander. "There is nothing I can say which will possibly excuse the way you have been treated. You have stood by Buffy in the darkest hours, always unflinching in your dedication, always selfless in your duty. An in turn, you are ignored, hassled, used as a delivery boy and treated worse than I would wish upon my worst enemy. If there were a medal I could bestow for bravery and dedication to duty, then you would have earned it a dozen times over. We failed you Xander, and you Faith. Please, do not give up on those who are your friends, even if they have been acting like bumbling fools for the past several months."

Xander looked at Giles, then Faith, then back at Giles. "Giles, you are asking for my forgiveness, for you and them. And maybe I should offer it and let things go back to how they were. But to be honest, I don't know that I WANT to forgive them. You I bear no real ill will towards. You were the authority figure, there to tell us what was going to happen, then leave it up to us to come up with the solution. If I had said that I wanted you to hang out with me all the time, you would have looked at me like I had just killed the queen. I wish you would have been able to clue Buffy and Willow in on what they were doing, but it wasn't your job to do so, and its not your responsibility to do so. It was something they should have done as my friends. Just like they should have listened to me the other morning instead of acting like I was some kind of idiot. Well, I'm not an idiot and I'm not some dog who will come crawling back every time they kick me. If they really value me so much, they're going to have to prove it." He looked up at Giles again. "I'm not mad at you Giles, but right now I just don't want to deal with them. So, if you want you can tell them what I said, and then we'll see just how serious they are. Now, if you don't mind, we were about to head out when you arrived. 

Giles thanked the both of them for at least listening, then left.

As they were getting in the car, Faith turned to Xander and asked what he would do if Buffy came up to him right now and asked him to come back to them. Xander thought for a moment, then responded that he would tell her she had a lot to make up for first. Both to him and to Faith, then after that, they'd see.

  
Buffy heard Joyce open the door downstairs, then the sounds of conversation, but none of it really made it through the fog which was surrounding her at the moment. Only the snapping of someone's fingers in front of her brought her, at least partially, out of her stupor. She shook her head to get the cobwebs out, then looked to see who it was. 

Standing in front of her where Giles and Willow. "Hey guys," she said weakly as she scooted up higher on her bed. Buffy looked at Giles, who wore a slightly more pensive than usual face. "Tell me its not bad news. I think if the world were to rest on my shoulders right now, I might just shrug and let it fall."

Giles shook his head. Willow sat down next to Buffy, wrapping her arms around her friend for support. Buffy hugged her back and they both just sat there for a moment until Giles cleared his throat. "You both might wish to know that I spoke with Xander this morning." Before either of the girls could interrupt him, he held up his hand, asking them to wait till he had finished. "As I was saying, I spoke with Xander this morning, and with Faith. Both are ok, but neither seemed overly excited at my arrival." He removed his glasses, cleaned them briefly, then returned them to his face. "Both are quite upset over the way they have been treated. Now, before you say anything, Faith knows she brought some of it on herself, but that is not the case with Xander. We, and I do include myself in that descriptive although perhaps I should not, have treated him abysmally for the past several months. In short, we quite honestly do not deserve his friendship nor loyalty. And yet, he is willing to at least partially forgive the transgressions against him, at least to the point that he is at least open to allowing us the chance to try and prove ourselves to be worth another chance." He looked at Buffy and Willow, both of whom seemed on the edge of tears. "I have already done what I can, at this point, anything else is up to the two of you. Frankly, I'm not sure that I know what would do if I were you. He may or may not be willing to speak with you right now. As it was, I think they were very close to slamming the door in my face when they saw it was me, but for some reason, they chose not to."

"They? As in Faith was at his house? She spent the night there? Oh, I am SO going to kick her."

Giles interrupted. "Buffy, I hate to be the one to point this out, but your assault on Faith was the one of the catalysts which precipitated this entire situation. Perhaps it might be more advisable to attempt to talk to them instead of attempting more of what has been shown not to work already in this case."

"I could bake cookies or brownies. Xander always liked it when there were fresh cookies."

Giles sighed heavily. "Willow, I do not believe that baking will in any way make this easier. What is required in this case is the both of you talking to him, to both of them, apologizing profusely, begging, I would suggest a hefty dose of begging or groveling and then actually treating both Faith and Xander as actual friends and equals. I will now leave it up to you to figure out."

And with that, Giles turned and walked out. As he descended the stairs, he hoped devoutly that they would be able to mend this fence. Closing the outer door, he snorted in derision. "Baking things to get rid of bad feelings and for atonement. What a positively stupid idea"

  
End Chapter 12

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	14. Chapter 13

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Thirteen  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


"So, whats your choice for lunch? Thanks to Giles we missed breakfast, so an early lunch it is today."

Faith pondered this, then responded that she really didn't know. The choice was his. The Zeppo thought for a moment, then grinned. "I know where we're going," he said. When questioned, Xander simply told Faith she would just have to trust him.

Grabbing the car keys, he missed her almost silent response. "I do."

Twenty minutes later, as the Chevy was pulling into a parking lot, Faith pivoted in the seat, giving Xander a look that fell somewhere between confusion and admiration. "How did you know?"

Xander smirked. "What, that you liked House of Thai? Would you believe a lucky guess?" The look he got shot that idea down. "Well, actually, when I was in your hotel room that night, I saw the takeout box in the trashcan." 

Faith looked down at her hands in her lap. "Xander, about that"

"Faith, you've apologized for it before. It's in the past."

"I know, but I"

He pulled into a parking space and turned off the car. He then looked over at Faith, then smiled. "Faith, tell you what, you want to make it up to me? Ok then, here's the deal. I'm going to take you out for lunch. We're going to enjoy it, then we're going to go somewhere else and do something else. After we have concluded those elaborate plans, we're going to swing by your place, get your stuff and then maybe go get a bad horror movie from Blockbuster before retreating back to my oh so pathetic abode. How's that sound?"

"Like you're treating me all day and I don't have to do anything to make up for what I did to you."

Xander sighed dramatically. "Faith, don't you know a good thing when it's presented to you? Just forget about what's in the past, and lets go get something to eat."

As they walked towards the restaurant, arms linked, Faith smiled inwardly, looking at Xander out of the corner of her eye. 'Oh yeah,' she thought, 'I know a good thing when I see it.'

  
Buffy tried to look nonchalant as she and Willow drove past Xander's house for the eighth time in less than a half hour. Still no sign of Xander's distinctive car. 

"Where could he be? Giles said he was here earlier. How are we supposed to talk to him if he's not here?"

Willow just looked down at the plate of brownies she had made as a peace offering. She had never seen Xander as mad as he had been at the park. "Maybe they went out for some food or something."

The Slayer was not happy when she considered that Faith could be with Xander. Not when she wanted so badly to tell Xander how she felt.

Sadly, Buffy turned the jeep onto the side street and debated on where to look next for him. A single tear rolled down her check as she silently wondered if he would even care when she told him she loved him.

Faith and Xander strolled out of the restaurant, mouths ablaze with the after effects of the spices used in their meals. 

"So, where to now, oh fearless leader?" Faith grinned as she interlocked her arm with Xander.

"Well, food has been taken care of. Its only noon thirty so breaking into your apartment is out of the question until dark. So, looks like we've got some time to kill. What say you to hanging out at our wonderful local shopping mall, followed by a trip to blockbuster, then a stint of breaking and entering?"

Faith looked down. "How about some place other than the mall. I hate window shopping."

Xander thought about it for a moment, then looked at Faith. "How about" Before he could finish, he let the sentence taper off into silence

"How about what?"

"Well, I was thinking But its gonna sound like some kind of lame pick up line or something really corny out of some chick flick." He looked down and kicked a small rock into the gutter. 

Mentally, Faith was hoping that he would make a move, maybe try to kiss her. She wanted him to take that step, let him set the pace for whatever was going to happen. For a while anyway. She smiled softly at that last thought. "Xander, I think you have earned a couple of cheesy type lines, so please, say what you are thinking."

"Well, would you like to come to the park with me? I'd kinda like to show you something."

"Can a girl ask what it is she's going to be shown?"

"Just something I want to share with you. I promise it's not anything bad, just something that's kinda important to me."

"Xander Harris, I would love to see whatever it is you are being all cryptic about, so lead on."

"Ok, we've checked the Bronze, the mall, the arcade, his house, our houses, Giles' and Faith's apartments, the library and the hospital." Buffy paused and thought. "Its official, I am now out of ideas. Please tell me you are having an idea."

Willow looked up from the plate of brownies she was still holding. She was ticking off in her mind's eye all the places Xander liked to go. And was coming up empty "Sorry Buffy, I don't know. Maybe he decided to leave SunnyDale. I mean, Giles saw him this morning, but since he went off on us at the park" Willow paused.

"Incomplete sentence Willow Spit it out, what's up?"

"Well, I was just thinking, we used to go to this spot off of one of the old county parks in the hill's. When Xander's folks got too out of hand, he'd occasionally crash up there. I don't think he's been up there since you came to town. I know I haven't. Didn't feel right to me anymore."

"Can you find it?"

Willow hesitated. "I don't Maybe.. I wasn't the one who found it."

"Xander found it?

Willow sighed. "No. He didn't either."

"Then who did?"

"Jesse. Jesse was the one who found it. That's why I stopped going. It just felt wrong going there without him. I haven't even thought about it in over two years."

Buffy started the jeep and they headed east towards the foothills, following directions Willow gave her.

"Xander, where exactly am I being led?"

"To your doom!" Xander laughed maniacally. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Actually, we're almost there." The Zeppo reached back and took the younger Slayer's hand as he pushed the last of the brush out of the way. 

Faith gasped as she took in the sight before her. Stretched out before her, framed by the branches of the trees, lay the small valley in which SunnyDale rested. She could see the entire town. Beyond that was the golden ribbon of the beach, then the glittering beauty of the Pacific Ocean. "Xander, it's beautiful. I've never seen anything like this before"

"Not even in Boston?"

"Xander, especially not in Boston. All Boston is made up of is old rough streets, really old buildings and skyscrapers. Nothing out there can compare to this." 

Xander sat down on a smooth rock and watched as Faith drank in the landscape which was before her. "Jesse, old friend, I hope you don't mind, but I had to show her."

Faith tore her eyes from the scene and looked at Xander. "What was that Xander?"

"Nothing, just saying something to Jesse."

Slightly confused, Faith looked around the clearing to see if there was someone in the brush whom she had missed. "Who's Jesse?" she asked just as her eyes fell on the small brass plaque. She read it aloud. "In Memory. Jesse. A true friend. Never to be forgotten." She looked at Xander, not quite sure what to say.

"He was the third musketeer. Me, Jesse and Willow, we were inseparable for years. This place" Xander swept his arm to encompass all that was around them. "He found it. Told me once that he thought it would be a good place to spend eternity. Able to watch the entire town and see the ocean. It was his favorite place to just relax and think. We spent a lot of time up here, just talking and hanging out. It was sophomore year Buffy had just arrived in town. The short version is that we both got grabbed by the resident undead. Buffy rescued me. Jesse didn't make it."

"They drained him?"

"They turned him. At the Bronze a couple of nights later, during the Harvest, I staked him. I watched his eyes as he turned to dust." Xander looked out over the ocean, but saw nothing. "Right before they dusted, I could see a change in his eyes. The demon was gone and he was there for a split second. One look, that was all it took, but he said thanks. I set him free. But it didn't make the pain stop."

"So you made the plaque for him?"

"Yep. It didn't seem right to me that he never had a funeral. That there was no memorial to him anywhere. Those twits in the SunnyDale PD told his parents that he ran away and there wasn't really anything else we could tell them. So, the parents of one of my best friends are going to have to go on for a long time not knowing what happened to their only son. And there's not a bloody thing I can tell them. So I made the plaque and mounted it up here so there would be at least some kind of memorial for Jesse. He deserves it."

Faith sat down on the rock next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry about your friend Xander. He's lucky guy to have had you as a friend."

"I just wish you could have met him. I think you guys would have liked each other."

Together, they sat there for a time, watching the wonderful view before them, relaxing and just enjoying each other's company. The peace was interrupted by a rustling of the underbrush. Tensing, but not moving, they silently waited to see what would emerge.

Xander sighed as he saw familiar red and blonde hair coming through the underbrush. "Oh happy day," he muttered, the sarcasm dripping from his words. "The gang's all here.." 

A few seconds later, Willow, followed by Buffy, emerged into the clearing. All four locked eyes and for a moment, the tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Xander was the first to speak and break the silence. "Why are you here Willow?" The resignation in his voice was evidence of how disgusted he was with the situation.

"We've been looking for you," responded Buffy.

"Oh please. After ignoring me all year, now you want to track me down even though it should be blatantly obvious that I am not inclined to deal with you, nor am I particularly interested in even seeing you."

"Xander," Willow pleaded. "Please! We need you." 

"Sorry Willow, but I don't buy it."

"I need you," said Buffy hoarsely. 

His head turned like a turret, his eyes leveled at her. "Bullshit. You haven't thought you've needed me since we met. Oh wait, I forgot. You thanked me after I saved your life. No, forget that. You were using me as a convenient prop to use in order to make Angel jealous. For you to tell me that now, it's just wrong. Playing on my emotions now just isn't going to cut it Buffy, because my emotions are screaming at me to never put my heart on the line again. I gave you guys tons of chances, and I'm tired. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am trying to spend the day enjoyably with a friend of mine. Who actually wants to hang out with me."

With that, he and Faith got up and left.

Buffy and Willow looked at each other in silence for a moment before Willow spoke up. "Well, at least he talked to us."

"Are you sure you want to do this Faith?" asked Xander as they stood in front of the taped off door. "If its too much for you"

"No, its ok. We'll just grab some of my gear and we'll bail. Shouldn't take all that long." Faith put her shoulder to the door and shoved. The tape popped free and the door swung open. Inside, the apartment was still a mess, caused by the fight she and Buffy had begun here and ended outside the now shattered window. Faith paused before taking that first step across the threshold.

"Would it help if I invited you in?" Xander joked with one of his trademark grins. 

Faith couldn't help but smile. She thanked him for the thought, then walked in. Although she tried to hide it, being here kinda brought everything back. The fight. The knife. The fall. The pain. It all washed up out of her memory and crashed over her. Xander noticed her hesitation and put his hand on her shoulder. That simple action snapped Faith out of the past, and back to the present. 

"Maybe we should do this another time," suggested Xander.

"Nah, this needs done, then I can get on with life. See I'm cool. Five by Five."

Xander watched, not completely convinced, as Faith moved around the apartment grabbing certain things right away, hunting through cabinets for others. All of the effects she chose were placed in a pile near the front door. As he watched, it grew to include a backpack, three duffel bags and an old style steamer trunk. For some reason this last item snared Xander's curiosity. He kneeled down and looked at it carefully without touching. It was not the kind of thing that he really associated with Faith. This looked old. Antique type old as opposed to `70's old. It was cared for, but well used. The wood was gouged, but oiled and some of the metal fittings were definitely dinged up. 

"Its not stolen if that's what you were wondering."

Xander slowly stood up. "Wasn't what I was thinking at all. Just seemed kinda out of place in here. Not quite the kind of thing I would have expected you to own."

Faith ran her fingers across the knotted wood. "It belonged to my grandmother. Only thing I managed to keep away from my folks when things went to pot. Hid it in an abandoned cannery down on the wharf when I bailed. Had it shipped in when I got here. She left it to me when she died, so I use it to keep some of my stuff in."

Xander watched, and heard more than Faith was saying. "She meant a lot to you didn't she?"

Faith just looked at him. "Not right now, please? Its not something.."

Xander held up his hand and told her if she ever was ready to talk about it, he'd be there to listen. After a moment of silence, Xander spoke. "So, is this everything you want to take?" 

Faith looked it over, then looked around the apartment. "Yeah that's it." Her eyes drifted to the broken window once more, and Xander's followed them. 

"It's not the past anymore Faith." Xander took her hand and squeezed it softly. "Things have changed, and you have a new chance at life. Not a lot of people get that these days. Don't dwell on what went wrong, just try to do right from now on. You're a good person and I for one believe in you."

"Thanks Xander. I don't know if I could have done any of this without you."

"Xander. That would be Alexander Harris I presume?" The two teens spun towards the door and the man who had just spoken. Neither one of them made a move though as the Uzi in his hand was trained on both of them. "That's interesting. Our files indicated that the two of you had had an encounter in which the young Miss Stevenson made an attempt on your life. Apparently the files are in need of an update. But that doesn't matter much at this point."

Faith tensed. Xander could almost hear the thoughts running through her head. The man at the doorway raised the gun slightly as he saw the Slayer prepare to leap. 

Xander saw the gun raise also and stepped between the submachine gun and Faith. 

"Now, as I was saying. I am from Wolfram and Hart and I am here to conclude some business"

  
End Chapter 13 

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	15. Chpater 14

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Fourteen  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


Xander swallowed. Looking down the barrel of the Uzi's silencer was like looking down the main gun barrel of a Sherman tank. 'Damn Green Beret memories,' he thought. 'Why can't you come up with something useful right now. Oh wait, I know How about cuz I am like royally screwed right now.'

The man with the gun took a step inside the apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. "Now, I see that the photos in the dossiers match each of you. But, in the interest of accuracy, I need to confirm. Faith Stevenson?" The Slayer chose to respond with naught but silence. "Well, if you don't answer, I'm going to have to shoot him in the knee"

"Yeah, I'm Faith."

"And you sir would indeed be Alexander "Xander" Harris?"

"My friends call be Xander. You, I don't even want you calling me Alexander."

"Very well Mr. Harris. As I said, I am from Wolfram and Hart. We at the firm have been given a mission to carry out, were certain events to occur. They have and so we are here. I apologize for the weapon, but we know that both of you have been immersed in the fighting here in SunnyDale for quite some time. I assure you it is simply for my safety and to insure that I am able to carry through and not be eliminated as the messenger sometimes is." From the interior of his jacket, he removed a small package and tossed it towards the two teens. Xander managed to catch it before it bounced off his head. "Inside of that package there is a video tape and a series of documents. I suggest you watch the tape and read through the contents. Also included is a number which you may reach us at the firm in case you have any questions or wish to contract the firm yourselves." With that the man, swung the door open, then dashed into the hallway.

"Do we follow him?"

"Offhand Xander, I'd say no. Personally, I don't want to see if Slayer speed can let me dodge full auto gunfire. Think we should take care of whatever is in that envelope, or should we bail first?"

"Personally, I'd say lets get out of here. We can check that out back at my place."

"Sounds like a plan to me." With that, the two began gathering up the belongings Faith had picked out and loaded up the Chevy. As they wrestled the steamer into the backseat, Xander asked what she had in it. "Maybe someday Xander. But I want to find out whats on that tape first"

The fading light shone through the windows. Or attempted to at any rate. Years of dirt on the windows made sure that any light than did manage to past was so defuse when it hit the floor that it may as well not bothered. Parked by the door were the three vehicles which had drawn more than a couple of passing glances as they moved through the industrial district. Above the main area, three figures sat around a conference table. The door silently swung shut and Harlequinn walked from the shadows.

"Welcome to SunnyDale, my old friends. Welcome back to the War. We have a lot to plan, and not a lot of time. "

Faith hit the play button, then headed back to the couch with Xander. Whatever was on this tape, it had involved people who knew A LOT about her and what she had been doing for the past few months That worried her. Something told her this wasn't going to be good news, which is why she had insisted Xander watch it with her. 

After a few seconds, the face of the Mayor appeared on the screen. He was in his office, sitting on the front of his desk.

"Faith," he started as he looked at the camera. "If you get this, well. It means that the large amount of planning I have done in the past century pretty much must have missed something. Offhand, I'm going to guess that it was Miss Summers and her cadre. Nobody else in this town really have a clue as to what's going on, much less be inclined to stop it. But hey, they're fighting for what they believe in, and I actually respect that. Don't hope they win mind you, but I do respect them. Now, on to business. Earlier I recorded a tape and left it to a demon to deliver to you. Upon reflection of what I said in that tape, I decided that there were some other things I could do for you even if I wasn't around. I have contacted some associates of mine in Los Angles and got some wheels turning in your favor."

The Mayor paused for a moment before continuing. "You're a good kid Faith. I wish things had worked out better for you. You deserve so much more than life has presented you with. So, I am going to assume for a moment, worst case scenario, that I do not survive the Ascension and that I fail to attain my goal. In that case, well, we know what it means. So, I have contacted Wolfram and Hart, a rather specialized law firm in LA who are known to cater to some of the more, shall we say, unique, individuals around. On file with them is a copy of a will, which I just wrote up, bequeathing my entire estate to you. I can only hope you will have recovered from the coma that holds you prisoner right now. Also, in addition to executing my last will and testament, Wolfram and Hart has agreed to take care of that annoying little trifle which has led to a warrant for your arrest. As of ten minutes ago, all charges and investigation into the untimely demise of my assistant have ceased, and they will never rise to light again. I hope you never have to see this tape Faith. That all this is unnecessary precaution. But if not, Faith, have a good life. You helped me quite a bit while you worked for me, and this is my way of saying thank you. May all the best follow you. Goodbye." And with that, the tape ended. 

"Well, there's something you don't see every day."

Faith looked up from the documents she was leafing through "Xander He left it to me" The young Slayer seemed to be in shock.

"What did he leave to you?"

"Everything. His whole Everything I'm rich. Do you know what this means? I can finally get out of here!"

Even as he was congratulating her, he could feel an emptiness in his chest swelling to encompass him.

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	16. Chapter 15

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Fifteen  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


Chapter 15

The shattered and bleeding form of a vampire landed on the floor with a sickening splat. The dark robed figure looked up from the copy of the Wall Street Journal which hid most of his face. "I am assuming that there is a reason for this spawn to be bleeding on my floor?"

"Yes Lord," spoke what appeared to be no more than an animated suit of armor. "We found this vampire, along with several others in the caverns to the north of town. They were wandering about in the caves and made the mistake of trying to attack us for dinner. We decided to bring one back when one of the undead dispelled a warrior with this weapon." The gauntleted hand offered up what on first glance looked like a small stalagmite. 

"This was the weapon? Are you sure?"

"Yes Lord Ezekial. I personally broke the vampires arm off and took it from the resulting dust pile. This is what it used."

Zeke calmly folded up his paper and pulled out a set of bifocals, putting them on as he took the object. He hefted it first, then held it up and closely examined the grain and structure. "Don't see many like this around." He turned his attention to the vampire bleeding on his floor. "Do you have a name or do I just call you mulch?" The vampire moaned incoherently in response. Zeke sighed then focused his concentration. 

The air between him and the battered wreck of a corpse seemed to shimmer and almost spark, then with a loud pop, the most grievous wounds on the vampire closed and vanished from sight. The vampire screamed in pain, then passed out. "Wake that up please, and without inflicting to much more damage if you could."

The suit of armor picked the vampire up, and carried it to a nearby aquarium, where it proceeded to resuscitate the vampire by the tried and true method of dunking its head in the water until it sputtered awake. The now conscious but disoriented creature was dragged back across the room and stood in front of Ezekial. 

"So glad that you could join us this evening." 

"Get stuffed!" snarled the vampire, as it was regaining its not so formidable wits. One of the two armored beings who were currently holding the vampire upright decided to end said disrespect quickly and grabbed the vampire's forearm and snapped the bone with a quick twist downwards.

"Speak politely to our Lord or I shall remove your foul tongue from your head!"

The vampire nodded dumbly as he looked at the bone sticking out of a tear in his sleeve.

"Now, as I was saying," Zeke continued as if nothing had occurred. "You have been brought before me because the item you used against my minions intrigues me. Could you be so kind as to enlighten me as to where exactly, and I do mean exactly, you found this particular curiosity."

Seeing bone sticking out of your arm can be a very good motivator for conversation, under the proper circumstances. The vampire was quite willing to inform his host that he had found the rock in question in the cavern in which they had attacked the scouting party. The vampire who had been leading them, and was now a pile of dust eighty feet underground, had assumed they were a bunch of humans doing some live action role playing or something similar. So he had picked up a rock, cuz the helmet the guy now holding him was wearing looked pretty damn thick. 

Zeke thanked the vampire, handed him an envelope from the desk and told him he was free to go, providing he left the continent within 24 hours. The confused undead was hustled out of the room as Zeke turned the object over in his hands. One of his lieutenants came into the room a few moments later to inform him that the vampire had been booked on a flight to Japan and would be off the ground in three hours. 

"Excellent," replied Zeke as he stroked the smooth surface of the object.

"Lord, may I ask as to what is so interesting about that rock you are holding?" 

The magic user laughed softly. "This is no rock. It's a pointer to what I am searching for. No rock could dispel a spirit. But a dragon's talon could."

Faith sat on the edge of Xander's couch, lost in the sheaf of papers she was reading through. "Six houses?" she said incredulously. "Man, this is just to much" Glancing over at Xander, she saw he was staring off into space, somewhere between infinity and a hamper of dirty laundry. "Xan? You ok?" she said softly. There was no response. Her gaze softened for a moment as she watched him. He was so still. As if he were lost in his thoughts and nobody would ever know him on a deep enough level for him to reveal those thoughts. Faith knew how much this never ending struggle had cost Xander, and how little he had had in the first place from which to draw. But none of that ever had stopped him from stepping up to the line and fighting for what he stood for, no matter the cost. 

Silently, she stepped up beside him and gently lay her hand on top of his. He turned his head and their eyes met. "Xander, what would you say if I asked you to move out of this basement and into one of the rooms of the mansion. I don't think I could handle being there alone all of the time."

Xander silently considered this proposal then nodded slowly. Faith smiled softly then looked away. "Xander, did you mean what you said to Buffy earlier? About not wanting to open your heart again?" Her eyes focused on the floor, as she knew she was coming dangerously close to that territory where neither of them knew what would happen.

The Zeppo chuckled sadly. "Ask me to move into your new house, then asking me about my heart. Geez, Faith, not one to ask tough questions are you?" He looked over and saw regret appearing on her face. His hand wrapped around her's and he squeezed it gently. "What I said to Buffy was regarding her. I loved her with all of my heart once, but she just used me, time and time again. All it would have taken was a single time when she could have smiled at me and asked me out, or just let me know that my love hadn't been wasted on barren soil. I would have done anything for her, but she didn't care. I wasn't as suave as her boys in LA, or as dangerous as DeadBoy. I was just me. Plain old me."

"There's nothing plain about you Xander, and if Buffy is too dense to see how great you are, she doesn't deserve you."

"Thanks Faith." He squeezed her hand again and looked down at it. "Maybe the best way to clarify what I said to her would be to just say that Buffy stomped on me one time to many and I moved on. Hell, I think I actually moved on a while ago, but I felt so empty inside that I have been clinging to what I felt for her for so long, even though its been over for a while." He let go of her hand and carefully, almost timidly, lifted her chin so their eyes met once more. "But none of that answers what I think you are really asking me. And that would be would I be willing to let you into my heart. Faith, that time out of time that we spent together in limbo, I." He stopped, unsure of how to continue, doubting if he should continue at all.

"Please Xander, finish," she pleaded.

"All those months, I felt myself getting closer to you. All the distrust and skepticism slowly fading away as we got to know each other and I got to know the real you. The you that you keep hidden under all of that armor you have built up over yourself. And you, you have seen parts of me that nobody, not even Willow or my folks, know. And what makes it weird or special or whatever is that the very fact that you do know everything about me makes things a little bit better. So I was telling the truth, that I can't offer my heart up to anyone else, because somewhere along the way, somehow, you found my heart when I wasn't even looking for someone to fill the emptiness I had come to take for granted." 

Together, the leaned in, their lips softly pressed against one another in an innocent kiss which in its infinite depths promised so much more.  
  
After a moment, they separated and Xander grinned. "My only conditions are that I get my own room, and I don't do windows."

The resulting pillow fight left feathers everywhere.

* Tap Tap Tap *

Giles was amazed at the fact that somebody, anybody, had actually had the courtesy to knock on the door to his flat as opposed to simply barging in as if they owned the place. He walked calmly to the door, think the entire way that it had to be some evil creature, perhaps an Amway salesman or Jehovah's Witnesses. He opened the door, ready to shoo away whoever, or whatever, was waiting, when instead he found Xander and Faith standing there. He managed to cover his surprise by sipping his tea for a moment before asking what the purpose of their visit was. 

"Aren't you going to invite us in?" asked Xander.

"In this town, I bloody well think not!" But he did step out of the doorway to allow them entry.

They entered and he closed the door behind them. He realized that there was something different about both of them. Xander seemed more composed and focused while Faith had taken some of her emotional armor off in the fact that she no longer seemed to be rebelling for the sake of rebellion. "Please, both of you, take a seat. Could I offer you some tea?" Both opted for soda instead. After a few moments of silence, Giles eyed them carefully. After a moment of observation, he determined for himself that the two of them had not slept together but were now intimate on a far deeper level. Indeed, both had realized that the walls, which they each had so carefully built and strengthened, had turned from a defense to a prison for their hearts and souls. And both had taken that first step in tearing the walls down. "Well, what can I do for the two of you this morning?" 

"We just wanted to let you know that we're going to be moving out of Xander's basement." Faith said.

"Might I inquire as to where you shall be relocating to and how you came into whatever domicile this would be?"

"Well," Faith started acting more insecure than Giles could ever remember. "The mayor kinda left me a mansion here in town."

"A mansion? From the mayor?"

"Plus a whole bunch of other stuff. Including more books than I have any kind of clue what to deal with. Which is where you come in. We discussed it last night and we want you to help us. We're going to stick around town, at least for a while and we kinda thought we could trade services. You can use the books as much as you want, kinda be our Watcher, and help us. The Council isn't exactly going to be willing to help a psychotic slayer and a normal human, but we still want to fight. Plus, we can pay you."

"You keep saying we. Are you two, how shall I put it"

"An item?" said Xander.

"Sleeping together?" chimed in Faith. "No we're not sleeping together"

"Different bedrooms in fact," chuckled Xander. "But we do have feelings for one another. And if you would be so kind as to not broadcast that information to the rest of the well, to anybody else, at this point, we would appreciate it."

"So, to make sure I understand this, you want me to become a kind of watcher and trainer to both of you, in return I will be able to use all the books the mayor had, receive a salary and irritate the Council." Giles laughed. "That's simple. I would be happy to provide such services." He paused. "This may mean some contact between the both of you and Buffy and Willow. Will working and interacting with those two cause problems?"

The two renegade Scooby gang members looked at each other then back to Giles. "No, we won't start anything as long as."

The door swung open and Buffy and Willow came in, talking to each other about how they could best get Xander to listen to them. Neither noticed the participants of the interrupted conversation until they were standing in the front of the kitchen. 

"Xander!" exclaimed Willow just as Buffy was snarling Faith's name.

"Oh My Here we go again," said Giles in an exasperated tone.

But before the fireworks could truly begin, a huge hulking figure stooped and entered through the still open front door. Chaos broke out in the apartment as the occupants took in this new figure and reacted. It had horns sprouting from its head that brushed the ceiling, a massive frame and radiated an awesome strength. 

"Oh Boy!" muttered Xander in his best Sam Beckett voice, just as two seemingly normal humans stepped through the door behind the monstrosity currently taking up a good chunk of Giles' living room.

"Die Demon!" Buffy yelled as she spun, grabbing a sword from the display case and moved to attack. 

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	17. Chapter 16

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Sixteen  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


Buffy crossed the distance to the first intruder with a fluidity of motion which most dancers would be hard pressed to match. The Roman short sword cleaved through the air towards the chest of her target.

Now, normally when one is being attacked there is a reaction. Shock, or perhaps in a large majority of the attacks where at least one of the participants is more than mundane, a move to block or counter the incoming attack. Demons have a typical reaction, especially in Sunnydale, to a young woman attacking them with an edged weapon. All of the above points made the reaction the intruder displayed to the Slayer's attack all the more bizarre. 

Xander couldn't believe it when he saw the hulking figure roll his eyes at Buffy's attack. 

But what was even more amazing was what happened when the gladius actually connected with the figure's jacket. There was a pop, almost like a circuit breaker, and the smell of electricity in the air. And then the most entertaining sight, for some involved anyway, of Buffy flying through the air, back the way she had come. With a resounding thunk, she fell in a heap behind the couch, the gladius skittering across the floor like a deranged beetle.

A voice from behind the group spoke before anyone could react to Buffy's attempt at gravity defiance. "Does she always greet visitors that way?" 

Giles and Willow turned to see Harlequinn sitting nonchalantly on the stairs leading upstairs. As they were trying to comprehend how the elf had somehow managed to get to such a position without any of them noticing, Faith and Xander were sizing up the other two figures who had come through the door. 

The first of the two was a female who appeared to be human. Long red hair spilled down to almost the small of her back, cascading across the mid-length black leather jacket she wore. She moved across the room like a panther, before coming to a halt beside and slightly in front of the first being who had entered the apartment. Xander couldn't help but notice the figure inside those jeans and that jacket was one that would start men, and some women, drooling. Faith took note that the flat boots the woman wore made not a sound as she walked. 

The second figure was a male. His hair was a dark as space itself, pulled up into a short ponytail. John Lennon style glasses were perched on his nose, almost as a decoration. He wore a duster which seemed to be bordering on being a cloak, and Xander notices a large bulge on his hip, almost as if he had a purse under the coat. It almost seemed as if he was looking at them in a kind of clinically detached way, more like examining them than just looking at them. Faith got the feeling there was something more to this guy than met the eye, especially since she felt almost some kind of double presence, as if he was were he was, and then there was someone, or something, else behind him. 

Neither of the strangers made any kind of offensive move, so both Faith and Xander waited to see what happened next. The only outward indication they were concerned at all was shown by a subtle squeeze of Xander's hand by Faith.

Giles sighed. "Well remember, when you live on the Hellmouth, and something which appears, well, rather demonic, bursts into your living room, it does tend to be a natural reaction from a Slayer." He paused and thought for a moment. "But yes, she does tend to react that way quite a bit."

The hulking figure began to laugh, as did its two companions. "A demon? Me? That's rich. But then again, you probably have never seen a troll before, have you?"

"Oh, I've seen trolls before," piped Buffy as she picked herself off the floor. "Slayed two of them last month when they thought they could just waltz into town and have a barbecue consisting of some people relaxing at the park."

"Those weren't trolls," replied the supposed troll.

"Sure they were," came the response. "Big, green, hairy and stinky with horns. Seems like a match to me."

The redhead joined in. "Now, with the exception of the horns part, do you really think that Kylar here fits that description you just gave? He's not green. I'm willing to bet that the so called trolls you faced were dressed like Viking rejects weren't they?"

"Well, yeah. But so what, he has horns, so did they!"

"But notice, Kylar is dressed in modern, not archaic clothes. And other than needing a shave and a shower, he is far cleaner than what you faced. What you faced were demons, which have been given the convenient label of troll, when in fact they are not the real thing. A real troll is not green nor inherently odorous."

"Well, unless they just had some bad hurlg," said the guy with the glasses, with a grin. "Then they'll turn green and puke all over the place, but Kylar hasn't done that in years."

"That's cause nobody even MAKES hurlg anymore," said Kylar, sounding somewhat reminiscent. 

Buffy turned to her Watcher, looking like a petulant child. "But Giles! You told me they were trolls." 

"Well, yes I did. However that is technically a convenient grouping for several races of demons."

"None of which are actual trolls," said the big guy.

"Ok fine, you're a troll. They weren't. Who cares?" Buffy was edging closer to the weapon's chest. "Now, tell me this, is there any reason why I shouldn't deal with you like I dealt with those trolls that weren't really trolls?" she asked as her hand closed around the handle of a mace.

"Actually, I have a reason for you," said Harlequinn as he stood from the steps and moved towards one of Giles' chairs. "You see, they're here to help train you for what's ahead."

The door to the apartment swung open again. The Scooby Gang turned as one to see who, or what, was going to intrude next. All were pleasantly relieved to see it was only Oz.

The guitarist took in the entire scene before him, noting that Buffy was armed and there was an extremely imposing figure brushing the ceiling with its horns. "Sorry I'm late. There was a big truck double parked." He turned to the troll, looking him up and down, then added, "Your lights are on."

Kylar chuckled, and thanked Oz for telling him. The room once again fell into a tense silence.

Xander raised his hand. "Excuse me, did you say they were going to be training us?"

Harlequinn nodded as Oz took his seat next to Willow. "These are the friends I mentioned to you last time we met. They are old hands in this fight. Allow me to make the introductions. The big guy is Kylar, who, as we have already established, is a troll. The lady is Sonja and the odd one is called Terral, both humans by the way. The three of them made quite a name for themselves in days long past. And, as a favor to me, they have agreed to train you, to help you take your place in the opening battles of this cycle of the war. Do you all agree to this training, to stand firm in the tasks that are set before you and take on the task with all you can offer?" 

Xander and Faith nodded after a moment of silent communication, followed by Willow and Oz, then finally Giles and Buffy. The elf took a deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, all joviality and humor was gone, as was the flippant elf. In his place stood a seasoned veteran of hundreds of campaigns and countless battles. When he spoke, it was with an accent from a language which had faded from the living memory of mankind long before the currently recorded history began.

"There is a long tradition among my people. When a young person had heard their calling, the elders of the clan would set before them tasks to be completed, in order to prove their dedication and commitment to face the trials and tribulations which would stand in their way along the Path. Spirits of ancestors long past and descendants still to be, I ask you to bear witness to what happens here today and spread word through the Netherworlds that a new generation has taken the first steps on the Paths. The Paths are arduous and difficult for even the strongest of Name Givers, but those who walk the Paths no matter the cost, no matter the peril, are amongst the honored whose legend shall be remembered, and their Names spoken with the reverence they deserve. 

"In the case today, we have a group waiting to continue their Journey. They did not have Elders who had walked the Paths before them, although they have had an mentor who taught and aided them the best he could. We honor him for his efforts and shall help him in his aid of these young ones. They have begun the Journey, so the initial trials on the Path have been met and surpassed. Their worthiness has been shown by the lives they have led and the lives they have saved. 

"I call upon the Passions to watch their Journey. I call upon the Elements to sustain them. I call upon the Spirits to hear them and I call upon these six to step forward now." All six awkwardly shuffled into a line, not quite sure of themselves. "Each of you shall walk the Path you shall chose. Each of you shall face your own trials and each of you shall face yourselves. The journey shall be long and you may stumble and fall along the way. I call upon you to help each other and help yourselves, least all of you fail. If any of you have any reservations, please step back now." No one moved.

"Excellent. Now, as was done to teach the young before shall be done again.

"I, Har'lea'quinn, last of the Knights of the Crying Spire, born of Shosara in ages long gone, do call for teachers and mentors for those who stand at this crossroads. I shall mentor their mentor, teach him what has been forgotten. I call for teachers for the Ones known as Willow Rosenburg, Alexander Harris and Daniel Ozbourne. Are their any present who shall take the training of this next generation as their task and prepare them for the hardships ahead?"

Sonja glanced at both Kylar and Terral, who moved behind her.

"Sir Knight, there are present those who would receive this task. I, Sonja of the Rockshorn Moot, Leader of the Circle of Light, pledge myself and my companions present to the training of the three you bring before us."

"This thing I ask, cannot be forced. Do you do so of your own volition, not to satisfy a debt or to curry favor."

"We do this thing because they are worthy and if the Circle of Light does not step up to such a task, there are none else to do it."

"Very well. Shall your companions take up their tasks as you have pledges?"

"We shall," came the dual reply.

"Then so it is said, so it shall be. Their quest shall be lead by your light. Your knowledge shall guide their steps." The three bowed, while the Scooby gang looked dazed. "Present today are two Slayers. Both of you step forward. You have been taught by Sir Giles, who has done more than could ever be hoped for by one of his position, but in the battles ahead, that knowledge shall not be enough. You have both shown you have the innate gift which makes a great warrior. But there is much you have yet to learn, much you have to be taught." The elf pulled out a saucer sized coin of some strange metal and laid it on the ground between himself and the Slayers. "Spirits of the Dead. I call for the First. I call for she who lit the way in the darkness. I have two of the line of Slayer who need taught by she who was the prime of their calling. I call upon the spirit of Katrina." The air over the disk rippled and a shadowy form could be seen.

"Why have I been summoned from my slumber?" 

"Honored spirit, I call upon thee to help thine daughters walk the Path you charted in years long ago. The talents you had have been lost to the passage of time. But they are needed again, less the darkness prevail. By the power of your True Name, I plead of thee this service."

The spirit looked almost amused. "The line has been sundered? Then it is time once more for the true power and nature of the Slayer to walk once more. I shall grant you this boon Sir Knight, but as always there is a cost. The beast which slew my mortal form still roams the darkness. For my spirit to know peace, it must be slain. Do these Slayers agree to allow me that rest?"

Harlequinn looked at Faith and Buffy. "You must answer this. It is a task for you, not I."

Both the Slayers paused. They realized that they were being asked to kill a creature which had survived a very long time. And in supernatural terms, old meant strong. 

Faith answered first. She agreed to do her best to kill it and set Katrina's spirit to rest once her training was completed. Buffy agreed to help within a second of Faith finishing her sentence.

"Then I shall train them in the ways of the Slayer."

Harlequinn smiled. "And so the next steps have been taken. They shall not be easy, but they shall be done. Let all who stood witness today spread the word, new feet tread the Paths, and the Darkness shall be pushed back!" 

With that, he clapped his hands and feeling of completion filled the room and all those within it.

"Welcome to the next level," said Harlequin. I advise you to all get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow you start to train." He handed a card to each of the Slayerettes, then turned and left the room, followed by Kylar, Sonja and Terral. 

As soon as the door closed, the Scooby Gang all collapsed in chairs and on the couch, looking like deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck.

Xander broke the heavy silence. "Umm, I probably should have asked this before, but what exactly did we just agree to?"

The unknowing silence was all the answer any of them had.

  
END CHAPTER 16

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	18. Chapter 17

Untitled Document Disclaimer: This is a fanfic, it makes me no money, I do not own the Buffy-verse, nor any world which was developed by FASA (Even though they discontinued the main product line I am referencing here, I still am giving credit where it is due.) It's a fanfic, no more, no less... I write it so maybe I can allow one person out there the chance to enjoy a good read. 

And now, the story continues.

An Eternal War  
Chapter Seventeen  
By IceWing ([icewing@one.net][1])  


Chapter 17

The chocolate haired Slayer and the Zeppo quietly left Giles' apartment, still trying to figure out what exactly was going, to understand how their world was shifting even as their worldview was being dramatically revised. Although both had sworn to, well, to do what they were already doing anyway. But now the stakes had been raised, and raised dramatically, and the rules had changed at the same time.

Xander opened the door to the classic car, which was now on permanent loan from his Uncle Rory, while Faith silently vaulted into the convertible and landed on the leather seat with but a whisper of sound. The silence between them was palatable as the V-8 engine rumbled to life. His hand on the gear selector, Xander's words pierced the tension.

"Any preferences Faith? Its too early to hit the hay and I'm a little to twitchy to sit on the couch for hours. I can drop you off at the house if you want." He let the sentence trail off into oblivion.

"Drive?" came the response.

Smiling, he dropped the car into drive and slowly pulled out of the parking spot on the road. Xander asked if she had a destination in mind. Faith responded by waved her hand in a westerly direction. 

The miles rolled past as dusk turned to night. After about twenty minutes of driving, Faith sighed and let her head roll backwards. The her eyes closed slightly as she watched the stars moving overhead. 

From the corner of his eye, Xander saw this and spoke. "I'm guessing that something's on your mind Want to talk about it?"

Without moving her head, Faith answered. "Just trying to figure out what we've gotten ourselves into, Xan. I mean, lets be real here. These guys are so far above us that we're like little leaguers taking on the majors. We're about to get in so far over our heads its not even funny."

Ahead of them, the moonlight reflected off the ocean. Xander didn't respond for a moment as he pulled the car onto the beach and turned off the engine. Twisting on the seat, he looked at Faith and took her hands in his. "Faith, we're already in this. From what Harlequinn said, this was going on already, and has been for a long time. Sooner or later we would have stumbled onto something bigger than we could handle and that would be it. At least this way we'll be able to do some more good. We may not be on their level yet, but we've been doing this long enough to know when to duck, when to fight and when to run."

Her eyes drifted back out to the slowly crashing waves. "I know Xan, but I'm"

"Nervous?" He supplied and a heartbeat later she nodded. "Hell, so am I. Truth be told, its bordering on scared. But you know what? Its par for the course around here. No matter what happens though, somebody has to be the ones who are going to stand up and protect the innocent people of the world." He squeezed her hand softly. "And no matter what happens, I'll be here for you too"

Faith squeezed his hand back, and for a while, the two sat there, leaning against each other, in more ways than one, as the watched the moon in its slow trek across the heavens.

Buffy sat on her bed, her eyes resting on the picture of her and Xander which she held in her hand. They had been on the beach, a day in the sun for the Scooby Gang. Xander had picked her up and was spinning her around in the air. A faint smile crossed her lips even as the tears began to well up in her eyes. Looking back, she realized how good his arms had felt around her waist, how safe she had felt. 

God, why hadn't she seen it sooner. Why hadn't she snapped him up when she had the chance. 

The tears rolled down her face as she thought back to how he had flinched when she touched him the day before the Ascension. The pain and ache she had seen when his eyes had met hers. 

Her fingertips brushed across his face in the photograph. "I'm going to have to win him back," she whispered. "No matter what."

She just prayed she would be able to get through to him again. Because now that she had figured it out, she wasn't sure what she would do without him by her side.

The tears kept rolling down her face till she fell asleep, the photo cradled in her hand.

The red practice mats where chilled from the early morning air. Faith hardly noticed though as she began to do some stretches before the training session started. One thing she had learned, since becoming a Slayer, was that superhuman abilities would heal a pulled tendon or muscle in a couple of minutes, but they still hurt like hell. Also, she knew that the little incident between her and Buffy before Graduation had taken a lot out of her and it wouldn't hurt to be careful. 

As she started a series of kicks to warm up her legs, the door opened and Buffy strode in, tossing a gym bag on the floor to the right of the door. Their eyes met and Buffy's lips tightened. Faith sighed, as it was pretty clear to her that this was not going to be easy. "Morning B, sleep well?"

"And whats that supposed to mean?"

Faith backpedaled, both mentally and physically. "Whoa there girl, I was just being friendly. Not trying to start anything with you, B. I want to make peace. I'm not the same person I was when we squared off. I know I don't have any right to ask it of you, but please believe me when I say that I want to make things right and do things right from now on"

Buffy looked at her before saying that she was right, that she didn't believe her and she didn't have the right to ask anything from any of the Scooby Gang, then stalking off to the opposite side of the mat to start her own warm ups.

After about ten more minutes of warm ups, Faith started shadow fighting, her eyes closed, against a series of imaginary opponents. With a liquid grace, she bobbed and weaved, throwing her weight behind quick jabbing punches and using her Slayer enhanced agility to flow through imaginary attacks before countering with her own. A faint sheen was developing on her body from the exertion as one of her kicks was blocked and she felt someone sweeping her feet out from underneath her. Twisting as she fell, she opened her eyes to see Buffy standing there, in a combat stance off her own. Faith turned the fall into a roll, then from the roll into a handspring backwards and was back on her feet. 

The smile on Buffy's face was almost feral as she asked Faith how it felt to get knocked on her ass, again. Faith knew that no matter what she said, it would only make the blonde more irritated, so she simply rolled her shoulders to loosen them up a bit more, and waited for Buffy to make the next move.

It wasn't long in coming. Buffy opened the impromptu sparring match with a spinning crescent kick. Even as she swayed backwards to avoid the impact, Faith could tell that Buffy was not coming at her full bore. If she had, the kick would have had far more power behind it and would have moved a hell of a lot faster.

"You want to spar B?" Faith forced herself to relax somewhat, less she forget to pull some of her own attacks and keep this sparring match, albeit a cover for something else going on between the two Slayers, from becoming a full out rumble. "Lets dance."

With that, the dark haired beauty moved in with an attack of her own. A series of feints, followed by a hook kick towards Buffy's shoulder. All of which were blocked, then countered with a pair of palm strikes towards the younger Slayer's stomach. Faith grabbed Buffy's extended arms, and pulled, rotating and bringing Buffy across her hips. The blonde rolled with the throw, hitting the mats with her shoulder before springing back towards Faith, unleashing a hurricane kick at her head. 

Faith punched Buffy's leg in the calf, deflecting the blow and ducking underneath as Buffy passed through the space which Faith had just occupied. As she was straightening back up, Faith was rocked by a spinning hammerfist across the mouth. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she drew her hand across her now split lip. "First blood to you B"

Before she could finish her sentence though, an extremely irritated voice chimed in from the edge of the mat. "If you two are quite finished with this stupid little display, we've got work to do."

Both the Slayers turned to see who had entered the room without either of them noticing. Standing there, her arms crossed in front of her in obvious irritation, was a young black woman, somewhere in age between eighteen and twenty five Faith guessed. She was clad in what looked to be some kind of warm up suit, but of a material which neither Slayer had ever seen before. 

Buffy spoke first, after having appraised the woman and coming up in the not impressed category. "Actually lady, I do mind. Me and my," she paused, realizing she didn't really know where to classify the other Slayer anymore. "And Faith here were working through some differences and we're not quite done yet. So whoever you are, you can just wait for a couple of minutes." Buffy moved to tap her finger against the woman's chest to emphasize her words.

What happened next occurred so fast that Faith wasn't quite sure just what had happened. Before Buffy's finger could make contact, the girl's arms lashed out, grabbing the blonde's sweatshirt with a deathgrip. She then dropped, twisted and thrusted with her legs, hammering her feet into Buffy's chest. The Alpha Slayer went airborne for a moment, before being slammed into the ground, and skidding for a few inches on her face. The black girl then seemed to spin around in a Bruce Lee like move, before coming to a stop, kneeling on Buffy's back, with both of her arms twisted up behind her. "As it happens, I don't want to wait. And, as I'm stuck being your trainer, I'm going to say that we've got a lot of work ahead of us. So, if you're quite through with your bitchy little princess routine, I'd say its time for me to teach you two how to be real Slayers."

"Katrina, right?" asked Faith, still trying to process what had just happened before her.

"That's right. Now lets get to work, shall we?"

The morning rays of sunlight washed over Kylar as he snaked through the underbrush, passing silently between the fresh growth without disturbing it. From here in the foothills, he could smell the ocean, although even here the air had the metallic tang which mankind had wrapped the world with. 'At least it smells better than London used to. By Jaspree, that place was a cesspool.'

As soon as that thought had finished crossing his mind, he realized he was at the clearing where he had instructed Oz to meet him in about an hour. Clearing his mind, the ancient troll began to circle the clearing in a ritual he had done tens of thousands of times in his life. After completing the circle, he moved to the center of it and sat on his haunches, relaxing and becoming one with the wilds around him. In a language long forgotten, borne of a people reduced to myth and legend, he spoke.

"Oh Mighty Jaspree, Your son calls upon you to give thanks for another place of beauty in the world. From this vista, the air and the land and the sea are all revealed to me, as are your creatures. I thank you for your bounty, for providing abundance for those in need, for providing shelter for your children of the glades, beneath these aged trees.

"Lord Jaspree, I call to you on this morning, as I am about to help a young man on the first steps along the road which was taught to me so many years ago. Teaching was never my strength. My strength is in the woods, like the oak, standing in all the glory you granted it. I ask your help in allowing me to know what I shall need to do, when I shall need to do it. Let his eyes be ready to be opened, for after so long, with so few of my brothers left in the wilds of the world, I worry that the time in which he has been born may close his heart to the truths that I see in this world around me. 

"This world needs its wilds, its virgin greens. I beg of you, Mighty Jaspree, to help me reach this one, so that he can help the world survive that which approaches, and so that he may help in the rebirth of the gifts which you granted to all Name Givers. Let your favor be with your servant, as I take another under my wing, as Meridia of the Twilight Peaks took me under hers so many years past.

"In your name, and for the honor of all who Walk the Path of Beasts, I shall do my best in all I achieve."

And with that Kylar opened his eyes, seeing over a dozen creatures standing or sitting on the outer edge of the circle he had paced earlier. A mountain lion sat next to a doe with a fawn, and they all looked at Kylar. He nodded to each animal, be they feathered, furred or in the case of a diamond back rattler, scaled. The fawn crossed the circle as the other animals began to disperse, its spindly legs supporting a grace which seemed out of place, and approached Kylar. With a smile, he petted it, offering a small sprig of mint from the ground beside him. The fawn took it and after chewing once, it walked back to its mother and together the two vanished into the woodline.

"Things like that happen often to you?"

Kylar spun, dropping into a combat stance. As he moved, Oz noticed something happening to his hands. The nails and fingers seemed to shimmer and looked almost claw-like. Seeing it was Oz, Kylar shook his head and straightened. "I did not see you approach." 

Oz hopped out of the tree he was sitting in. As soon as he was on the ground, he looked and saw that the claw-like effect was gone as fast as it had appeared. "Been waiting actually, couldn't sleep."

The troll nodded. "You saw the ritual I take it?" 

The currently purple-haired guitarist nodded but said that he couldn't understand any of it, sounded a little like Russian. Upon hearing this, Kylar laughed a deep booming laugh which sent birds into the sky. Oz looked at him quickly, but then just shrugged.

"So, now what?"

Kylar motioned for Oz to sit. The young man complied, but Kylar seemed to hesitate. His eyes scanned the trees before stopping on a branch slightly above where Oz had been sitting. Oz followed his eyes, and saw the owl sitting there, watching the scene as it played out. "He's with me," said Oz before whistling softly. The barn owl spread its wings and flew down the ground, landing gracefully on a tree stump slightly behind where Oz was sitting. "Seemed like he wanted to come today, I didn't think it would be a problem."

His brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed as Kylar smiled. "You are more than you seem, are you not, young one?"

"Not quite sure what you mean," replied Oz, deadpan. 

Kylar looked at him, and then at the owl. "You are more than you seem in two ways. First, the blood of the wolf flows through you already."

Oz actually looked a bit flustered. "Oh, that. Its only an issue a couple nights a month. Nothing to worry about."

"You misunderstand me. It will help you on this Path, for you and the animal are already joined at some level. Second, your owl there, shows that you have taken the first steps in learning to be one with nature, existing with it instead of just beside it."

The werewolf shrugged. "I just found him when he was a hatchling and helped him out. He stuck around so he must like me. Not a big deal."

As he laughed, Kylar could feel his worry vanishing. "Oh, but it is, my pupil. For it shows you are ready to begin. Now, close your eyes, and we shall start.

Willow took a deep breath as she lifted her hand to the door knob in front of her. The address on the building matched the one on the card she had been handed the night before, so it was a safe bet that this was where she was supposed to begin her training. Cautiously, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. 

The warehouse was well lit and seemed to almost shine inside. Both of these facts caught Willow's attention as the warehouses in SunnyDale tended to be bordering on condemned. Letting out the breath she had unconsciously been holding, Willow stepped inside, knowing that her universe was about to get a lot more interesting. Checking her surroundings, she notices a large ritual circle of some sort inscribed in the center of the floor, although she couldn't identify to many of the symbols which were etched into it. At the northern end of the warehouse, a few feet outside of the circle, she saw a large conference table with two chairs and what looked to be a large dry erase board, albeit it one which from the arcane symbols on it, was more than it appeared. In the southern two corners of the building, Willow saw a series of what could only be described as targets, although there didn't seem to be any weapons anywhere she could see. 

"Ah, Ms. Rosenburg. Prompt I see." 

Willow turned back towards the conference table, where the ancient mage was now visible. She started to say something, but stopped the words before she could speak them. Obviously he hadn't wanted her to see him until he was good and ready. Terral waved her towards the table and began setting items on the lacquered tabletop. Hesitantly she walked towards the conference table, making sure not to break the edge of the circle as she walked. 

"So," the red head started, unsure of herself. 

"You might as well take a seat, because we have a lot to go over. I took the liberty of providing pad and pencil." Willow grinned sheepishly and held up her laptop. "That's fine for words but part of what we will be going over will be multi-dimensional geometry, as well as a variety of arcane symbols which I can guarantee will not correspond with any standard keys on your keyboard. 

Willow smiled again and pulled a digital tablet from the laptop's carrying case and plugged it in to the USB port. "Paper works great for a lot of things, but I prefer to keep my study notes online. Much easier to run a search if I forget something."

After a couple of introspective mumblings about a digital grimore and the possibilities it would offer, Terral asked Willow to take a seat. "Willow, may I call you Willow?" When the redhead nodded, Terral continued. "Willow, I must say that out of all of your friends, your task is going to be the most time consuming. Whereas they are only going to be learning talents, that is to say learning to use a certain world view to be able to perform certain feats, you are going to have a lot of actual knowledge which you are going to have to learn, and I mean learn completely, before you will be able to be fully ready to handle the abilities which I shall teach you. Do you understand?"

"How long are we talking about here? From what Harlequinn said, time wasn't exactly on our side."

"This is true, but when one has been around as long as I have, you tend to pick up some useful spells. One of which will be quite useful for your education in the arcane. It will allow me to teach you at a vastly increased speed by projecting our consciousness into astral space, where the flow of time is far faster than it is on this plane. It will be tough on you, but we have a limited amount of time, as you said, and the skills which I need to teach you cannot be learned in any way other than by pure study. Once you have these basics down, I will be able to begin teaching you the Talents which will allow you to not only become a far more able spellcaster, but will allow you to be one of the strongest forces of good in your generation. That is, if you agree to this. I cannot force you." 

Willow pondered the words for a moment, weighing them against the possible outcomes. "How dangerous is it? And how long are we talking?" After all, she could not make a well informed decision without asking at least a few questions. 

"In another time, I would say the danger would be great. And I must admit there is some danger involved, but honestly, I can say that it is not too bad. Many of the methods to attack a being in astral space have been forgotten as the ages pass. And almost all of the creatures which might try and hunt us while we are in astral space are either dead, banished or hibernating until the magic level increases to higher levels. Couple that which the protections I will establish and the wards I have already placed, and the danger is negligible. As for time, we shall spend around twelve hours of real time a day studying, which will translate to about a week of relative time for us."

The redhead thought about it, weighing the danger, and the weirdness, against the fact that without this knowledge, she wouldn't be able to help her friends as much as she could otherwise. With that fact firmly in her mind, she nodded her assent.

Terral told her that starting tomorrow morning, they would train in astral space, but today would be done in real time, due to the complexity of the spell and the protective wards he would need to prepare in order to protect the both of them as much as possible. 

"Well, first, let me ask you, what is magic?"

"Magick is the power to wield energy of will to make a change in reality," said Willow after a heartbeat's worth of time to think about the question.

"Not bad. A little vague, but not a bad place to start." Terral motioned for her to sit while he took the opposite chair at the large table and the discussion began in earnest.  


The kettle on the stove was just starting to whistle as Giles finished cleaning up from the previous evening's gathering. It had been a long night and frankly he wasn't quite sure of what to expect next. 

As he poured the boiling water into the tea pot, the former librarian sighed softly. In a few minutes, there would be an immortal elf in his apartment, trying to teach him a larger world view and helping him prepare to assist his young charges in their newest headlong charge into danger. Lifting the teapot onto the serving tray, he carried it into the living room, where he set it on the coffee table. Already he could smell the subtle aroma of the English Breakfast tea wafting into the air as the herbs steeped in the hot water. 

Removing his glasses, Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. No matter what he experienced in life, living here in SunnyDale as a Watcher, albeit one who was no longer an official employee of the Council, always found some way to throw something new at him. And rarely were these curveballs omens of glad tidings. A knock on the door jarred him from his revere. Replacing his glasses, he stood and walked to the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Harlequinn standing there, a brown paper bag in hand. 

"Now this is something I was not expecting, I must confess. Why, if I may ask, did you use my front door instead of simply appearing somewhere in my flat?"

Harlequinn chuckled. "Nice to see you too, Rupert. I come bearing fresh scones"

Giles stood aside and allowed the elf entry into the apartment before closing the door behind him. 

Harlequinn sniffed the air. "Ah, you've made tea. Excellent!" Walking into the kitchen, he found a plate and returned with the scones on it. Seeing that Giles was still standing, he shrugged and sat down on the couch, pouring himself a cup of tea and biting into a raspberry scone. "In answer to your earlier question, the truth is that I always used the front door, you just couldn't see me come in due to a favorite spell of mine, which prevents people from noticing me." 

"An invisibility spell?"

"Not exactly, more along the lines of it just keeps people from noticing me. I've run some tests with it against cameras, video tape and such, and my image is there, just that people just don't notice me while the spell is in effect. There are some variants I am working on to be masked from video, but so far the results are spotty at best."

"If it only affects people An illusion spell then?" Harlequinn nodded. "If you are able to cast these kind of advanced illusions, would the foe which you mentioned, the traitor, be able to cast them as well?"

After taking another sip of tea, Harlequinn responded. "Actually, he is more skilled than I in the art of Illusion. In fact, it was his primary school of magic, whereas it is merely a hobby of mine."

"Would these illusions be able to, say, make people believe that a human was in fact a vampire?"

"To answer your actual question, yes, the traitor was the one who cast that spell. He knows of the Slayer and her friends and does not want them interfering in his plans while he is in the area. So, he took the opportunity to attempt to drive a wedge between the group. And as much as I hate to admit it, it looks as if he succeeded."

"Can you tell me more about this person?"

Harlequinn sighed. "I knew it was a matter of time before somebody wanted more details." Giles started to say something, but the elf held up his hand. "And you have right to know what it is you're up against. His name is Ezekial And in days longs forgotten, he used to be a hero. He used to be my friend." 

The sign on the front of the dojo said closed for renovation. The plywood over the windows made it look like the place had been the victim of a firebomb, if not worse. Looking at the card again, the addresses still matched. Shrugging, he tried the door and found it opened easily enough. 

Once inside, it was pretty obvious to Xander that the post-war Dresden look on the outside had been faked. Inside, the dojo was about the nicest he had seen. He recognized some of the machines as relatively new workout equipment, but the bulk of the space has nothing but practice mats. What he did find somewhat disturbing however was the fact that the walls and the ceiling had mats installed on them as well. That fact, coupled with the racks of exotic looking weapons on the east wall behind the weight machines, disturbed him more than a half a dozen hungry vampires would. 

"Umm, hello?" he called out, not sure of what exactly was expected of him.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was for the redheaded bombshell Harlequinn has named as Sonja, to come strutting out of the locker room in a bodysuit that looked like it had been painted on her. Although his tongue wanted to roll right out of his mouth, Xander closed his eyes and tried his damnedest to clear his mind and keep his thoughts on, well on anything but the foxy lady who was now circling him like some kind of predator deciding where to lunge in first. Opening his eyes, he met hers and kept them their. Such beautiful soft, green eyes They were like. Shaking his head, he forced those thoughts away. No more falling in lust with any woman. It only led to danger, death and sometimes worse things, like making out in a closet with Cordelia. 'Focus on her forehead,' he thought. 'Nothing dangerous there Just stay focused Xander, you can do this. You have to do this. Must learn stuff so you can help Faith and Buffy and keep fighting Plus, think what this would do to her She's just starting to open up to you, to trust, don't screw that up!'

"I'm impressed," said Sonja as she stopped in front of him. "Not to many people can stay focused when I put my mind, not to mention the rest of me, into it." She looked him up and down, while he made an effort to return her gaze without giving in to whatever it was she was using to beguile him. "Not bad. Harlequinn says you're the heart of the group. Which helps, but we still need to figure out what Path is right for you." With a flashy turn, she pivoted on the balls of her feet before walking across the room to the practice mats. On the way, she plucked a shimmering robe from one of the exercise machines and slid it over her figure, belting the silk sash so as not to cause Xander quite as much distraction. "Come on stud, I don't bite, well, not on the first date anyway"

Xander shook his head and walked over to the practice mats next to her. This was definitely not going to be easy. "So," he started. "Is this the part where you wave some magic wand over me or pump some kind of magical potions into my system?"

"No, this is the part where you have to be completely honest with every question I ask you, otherwise in a couple of weeks, the universe is going to get ticked at you for trying to be something you're not and give you a headache that may very well kill you, if nothing worse."  
  
"Are you serious?"

"Actually, I'm exaggerating a bit. It won't kill you, but its not a pleasant sensation as your essence, your pattern, rejects the magic that you tried to infuse into yourself. Plus, we're under some time constraints here, so I don't think we have the time to waste. So, I need to know, why do you fight against the darkness, Alexander LaVelle Harris?"

Xander wasn't sure which fact disturbed him more, the fact that she knew his whole name, or the fact that the question was almost identical to the one Buffy had asked him the night before she had staked him. It seemed so long ago. So much had changed since then. The Zeppo looked down at the floor for a moment and sighed. 

Why was it that people always asked him these kind of questions, when he least expected them. These were questions better suited to Giles or Willow maybe. Why? Why was he still doing this?

It wasn't for Buffy, not anymore. He started to think that maybe it never was about Buffy, but he couldn't say that for sure. Was it for Faith?

Faith. He sighed inwardly. Life was so damn complex sometimes. From psychotic Slayer on the wrong team, to trying to turn her life around. And he was trying to help her. Why? He knew that he was developing feelings, strong feelings, for her. 

But she wasn't why he fought.

Was it for revenge, over Jesse? He had to roll that one around in his head and came up with a no. He had leapt headlong into the battle before losing Jesse, although he had to admit that loosing his best friend had made the battle a lot more personal. 

Why then, did he face the darkness? Why did he risk it all instead of just getting the hell out of Dodge? The Slayer and the Watchers had saved the world for years, hell for centuries, before he was even born. 

In a moment of clarity, he realized that it didn't have anything to do with any of that. The fact that the foes he fought were supernatural really didn't make a bit of difference. It wasn't about Slayers, or vampires, or demons. It was about keeping the monsters, human or otherwise, from having free reign to spread their venom across the innocents on which they preyed. 

He looked up, meeting Sonja's eyes with his. "I do it because somebody has to protect those who can't protect themselves. Somebody has to hold the line, to keep the darkness at bay. I may not be a Slayer. I may not be cool. I'm probably going to end up dying in a way that would be way past an R-rating. But you know what, every night I'm out there, every time I stop a monster, that's one more night somebody doesn't wake up dead, or worse. That may make me stupid, and it may not be the best reason in the world, but that's what I've got."

Sonja smiled. "Excellent. Now we have something to work with.."

  
End Chapter 17

   [1]: mailto:icewing@one.net



	19. Chapter 18

An Eternal War  
Chapter Eighteen  
Written by IceWing

* * *

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

* * *

As she opened the door from the garage, Faith felt more exhausted than she could ever remember. Training with a spirit, one who was a hell of a lot more proficient as a Slayer than she or Buffy had even dreamed of being, wasn't easy on one's body, or ego for that matter. The young Slayer's mouth twitched as she remembered somebody telling her that Death was Nature's way of telling you to slow down. Apparently, it wasn't a permanent reminder though…

Before she had even taken a couple of steps into the kitchen, her nose detected one of the most delectable scents she had ever encountered. Dropping her gear, she softly kicked the door closed, slid her shoes off and headed towards the kitchen. She'd have to remember to toss all the contents into the wash, as well as remember to grab a fresh change of clothes and towel to clean up with after tomorrow's workout. But right now, she wanted to find out what was producing such a delightful aroma.

Padding silently, she made her way to the kitchen, where she found Xander moving quickly around the kitchen. He had apparently made himself quite at home in the kitchen of the house they had moved into. Which was good, because although the kitchen had been equipped at great expense by the Mayor, Faith's cooking skills weren't much past the mac and cheese phase. As she watched, he skillfully flipped the contents of a cast-iron wok up and over, before gravity took hold of them and they fell back to the bottom of the pan. The smell of garlic, one of Faith's favorites, filled the air, mixing with chicken and an assortment of vegetables.

Faith was amazed by his actions. The gawky teen he had been when she had first come to town was gone, replaced with the young man who held himself with confidence and radiated an inner strength. She once again counted herself lucky, that things had gone the way they had, and she had found him. Saved him as he had saved her. Her thoughts turned slightly towards the present, towards the future, as she wondered just what was evolving between them. She knew that he had found his way into her heart, as she had found her way into his. But neither knew quite what to do next. Both had been wounded, literally in Xander's case, in the past by people they cared deeply for. Neither wanted to risk the bond between them, but both of them knew that it was just a matter of time before they had to face the music, discuss their feelings, and take they next step in their relationship. Faith sighed slightly.

Hearing her sigh, Xander turned from the chopping block where he was preparing a large salad and saw Faith standing in the doorway and grinned. "Couldn't have given me a couple of more minutes? Dinner's almost ready."

The dark haired beauty simply smiled and responded that she just couldn't standing being away from him a moment longer. Both the young adults laughed, but Faith knew that her words had been more true than she had let on. "Anything I can help with?" she asked.

Xander responded that she could get out something for them to drink. Faith agreed and padded over to the massive fridge. Opening the brushed steel door, she tried to figure out what would go with garlic chicken stir-fry. The fridge was fully stocked with a variety of food and drink. One additional feature they had discovered was that the Mayor had contracted a service which would come by every couple of days and restock the fridge and pantries throughout the house. Faith was thrilled by the prospect of good, fresh food everyday, while Xander had berated the manager of the service until two boxes of Twinkies showed up with each visit. Her eyes moved over each beverage in the fridge, trying to decide what would match well with the dinner Xander had prepared. Not pop, somehow Coke or Pepsi products just didn't seem adequate tonight. Same with milk. Iced Tea maybe? Then her eyes fell on the 3 bottles of organic white wine, from the Frey Vineyards. Perfect.

She pulled the topmost bottle from the wine rack in the fridge, and moved across the kitchen, a soft smile crossing her face as she brushed her hips against Xander's. Rummaging through a couple of the drawers, she located a corkscrew and opened the bottle. From one of the cabinets, Faith retrieved a pair of crystal wine goblets. Glasses in one hand, the wine in the other, she moved to the small table where they had agreed to eat at. The main dining room was just to impersonal for either of their tastes. Carefully, she poured the wine, careful not to spill any. Before she was done, Xander was approaching the table, carrying salad for both of them. As soon as he set them down, he deftly moved behind Faith's chair, pulling it out for her then gently pushing it in.

That small action amazed Faith. Never before had anybody done something like for her. Well, nobody except for Xander. He was always holding doors for her, always taking that extra little action to make things easier for her. Chivalry isn't quite dead, she mused.

"Hang on, I'll be right back with the rest of the food."

Faith simply nodded, not sure what else to say at that moment. As Xander made his way back to the kitchen, Faith sighed, overwhelmed by everything. Never before had anyone taken the time to make dinner for her, much less something as special as what Xander would be bringing back to the table in a couple of moments. And for no other reason than to make her happy. It still felt a bit surreal to her, know that somebody cared for her, about her. It made her feel good about herself for the first time in a long while.

Xander had the steaming plates balanced carefully as he walked back into the room. Quickly, he set them down on the table and moved to his own chair. "Well, dig in!" For a moment, the two of them began to eat in silence, before Xander asked Faith how her training went with Buffy and Katrina.

Around mouthfuls of salad, Faith told him how the morning had started, mentioning Buffy's hostility but trying to make it seem more toned down and innocent than it was. After the training had actually started, Katrina had set up a training regimen, which would be followed for a couple of weeks at least. The mornings would be spent with Buffy and Faith working together, sparring with each other and, at least Katrina hoped, teaching and critiquing one another. The afternoons would be a bit different, with one of them working out one-on-one with Katrina all afternoon, while the other worked out or studied up on a variety of topics that Katrina felt would round out their education. "Would you believe that she actually wants us to take up some kind of art or music lessons? Says that it will help us reveal our inner selves to our own eyes."

"Any idea what you might want to take up?" asked Xander as he served her a portion of the garlic chicken.

"Well, I'm kind of bouncing back and forth between some kind of carving, I mean, I can already carve a wicked stake…"

Xander grinned. "Faith, somehow I don't think carving stakes is what she has in mind for you to be able to express yourself. What about something musical, or dance maybe?"

A slow smile rolled across the dark hair Slayer's face as she retorted that the kind of dancing she would probably end up doing would involve high heels and poles… Xander smirked wickedly and told her he would be more than happy to watch her perform. His face turned a bit red when Faith leaned over and told him that if he played his cards right that she might be willing to arrange a special performance for his viewing pleasure. The tension in the air was palatable as both of them took a moment to compose themselves, aware that the feelings they had for each other were bubbling just under the surface….

Faith regained her composure first, a massive feat unto its self as a large part of her didn't want to back down from the situation before her, but she knew that now wasn't the time. But that didn't completely silence the voice at the back of her head, telling her to grab him, plant a lip lock on him and tell him exactly how she felt about him. Leaning back, she took her first bite of the chicken. The taste was unbelievable. It was like nothing she had ever had before… "Oh my god Xander!"

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Its no good, is it?"

"This is the best food I've ever tasted. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Well, when you're as much of a TV junkie as me, you clock a lot of hours watching food network. Couple that with the lack of anything resembling parenting from my folks and I pretty much had to fend for myself. After six months of raman and mac and cheese, I decided if I was going to have to feed myself, I might as well feed myself well, or at least tasty. I did pretty well with stuff from the day old stores, and now that I have good ingredients to work with.. Well, what you see is what you get."

"Does anybody else know that you can cook like this? I mean, you're like a gourmet chef or something!"

"Nah, it was something I picked up in high school. Not too many people ever wanted to visit Casa Harris, not that I can blame them. So, believe it or not, you're the first person I have made dinner for."

"Then I guess I'm the first to offer my compliments to the chef," she said. A few seconds passed in silence before she continued. "So," said Faith between bites. "How did your training go today?"

"Well, it started out a bit weird to say the least. As soon as I walked in the door, Sonja tried to put some kind of whammy on me. Said she was impressed that I managed to resist her, not many guys, or gals she said, managed to do that."

Faith felt a twinge of something, jealousy perhaps as she asked Xander what he meant by resisted her. He somewhat embarrassingly responded, telling how Sonja came out like some kind of sultry vixen and tried to seduce him, not to mention all the innuendo during their training. Faith recalled how hot Sonja was and hoped that Xander wouldn't leave her for the red-headed bombshell.

From across the table, Xander realized from her expression that Faith was upset about this, although she was trying hard not to let it show. He rose from his chair and moved around the table, taking Faith's hands in his. Looking her in the eyes, he began to speak. "Faith, I swear to you, nothing is going to come between us. No matter what anybody does, no matter what evil comes after us, I am going to be here for you."

Faith smiled as she squeezed his hand. "I know Xan. It's just that nobody as special as you has ever been in my life before, and I don't want to lose you."

"Wild horses couldn't drag me away from you, Faith." His fingers brushed across her cheek, softly caressing her face.

In response, Faith leaned into his touch, which was like electricity to her. And in the process, placed her elbow in the remains of her chicken. Both of them looked down at Faith's garlic sauce covered arm and began to laugh. "Guess the dishes need done," said Faith as she moved to take the dishes. "I mean, only fair that if you do the cooking then I'll handle the dishes." Gathering them in her arms, Faith began to shuttle them to the kitchen.

Xander watched as she balanced an entire dinner's worth of crockery and cutlery on her arms and carried them into the kitchen. Trailing behind her, Xander couldn't help but realize just how much better his life had become. And as he looked at the dark haired beauty who he was living with, he realized that for the first time in his life, Xander felt like he was home.

* * *

When Sonja walked into the room, Xander let out a sigh of relief. Gone was the skin tight outfit from the day before, replaced instead by a simple pair of sweats. Her long red hair was pulled neatly into a ponytail which nearly reached to the small of her back. Soft black leather soleless boots which matched the color of her sweats and completed the outfit. Her long strides took her to the center of the room, where she sat on the woven tatami which was currently laid over the padded mats. With a gesture, she beckoned Xander to sit opposite her. 

Settling to the floor, the young man looked distinctively uncomfortable. Several long minutes passed, and Xander's nervousness seemed to get worse and worse.

"Xander," said the red haired warrioress. "Is something bothering you?"

"Nope," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "Just…"

"Alexander," she said in a soothing tone. "If I am going to teach you, then I need for you to be honest with me, in all things." She paused for a heartbeat, trying to figure out what to say next. "If you do not wish to tell me your thoughts, then I will respect that, but do not try and deceive me. Those who are far better at it than you have tried and failed. Now, I ask again, is something bothering you?"

The dark haired youth looked into the green eyes which bore into his. There was something in her tone, in her posture, which let him know that he could trust her with his thoughts. That she would listen, not judge him. His mouth opened, then closed, as he tried to figure out how to start. "I'm just nervous. I'm new to this whole destiny powers thing. I'm… I guess I just think I'm going to let everybody down."

Sonja nodded slowly. "Alexander, you… You care for your friends, yes?"

"More than anything," came the response.

"Do you think that they're better than you?"

"Well, they've all got their own mojo going. Oz, he's got the whole wolf thing. Giles, he's a Watcher, not to mention the whole mage thing back in his day. Wills, hacker and Wicca. And Buffy and Faith, they're Slayers. Me? I'm just the normal guy."

"Alexander!" came the disbelieving response. "No matter what abilities your friends have, that's all they are, abilities. Being able to cast spells or master weapons just by touching them, or bay at the moon, none of those things make YOU any less special. You have your strengths, just as they have their weaknesses."

"Yeah, but oddly, my weaknesses are a couple of orders of magnitude magnified when compared to their strengths."

"Bushwah!" came the dismissive response. "No two people are ever identical, no matter what. Let me tell you, every person on this planet is precious. And do you know what makes them so precious? The fact that no matter what, every individual is just that.. An individual. With unique outlooks and perspectives and responses. And yes, unique strengths and weaknesses. But how we see the world, makes the difference. In fact., its that very difference that gives us our abilities. And learning to accept and embrace that viewpoint is more important than you can even imagine."

"Take Terral for example. To him, and those like him, everything is about the underlying logic. Seeing repeating patterns, being able to break everything down into smaller and smaller pieces so they can understand the entire puzzle. Being able to KNOW how everything relates, being able to know that moving this here will cause an effect there." She laughed as a memory came to the surface. "Let me tell you, when the Scientific Method was introduced, he was just tickled pink."

"My brother, Kylar… Everything is about Nature and all of its nuances. The breath of the wind through the trees, the cycle of life, watching the fury and peace that is nature, learning from it and being one with it. To him, watching the sunrise has never lost its appeal. Seeing a newborn deer shakily stand to its feet for the first time will always amaze him."

"For me, life is a never ending competition. You're always tested to see how well you can do, if you can best others, or more importantly yourself. The contests I'm faced with, the challenges I rise to, the fields of competition, they always vary, but that's what life is, at least to me."

"And elf dude?" asked Xander after a moment of silence.

"The old man?" Her voice sobered, but she continued. "Harlequinn, he's a bit different. To him…. At times, he sees life as a cruel joke, other times a tragedy. But, believe it or not, you and he share a lot of the same traits."

"Obviously," joked Xander. "I mean, thousands of years old elf, and a California teenager. We're practically long lost twins…"

"See, that's what I mean. You both use humor as both armor to shield yourself, as well as a weapon to riposte people's thoughts away from areas you don't want to delve. And, most importantly, you both use laughter to buoy the spirits of those around you. Keeping morale high, no matter how dark the night."

"But Harlequinn…" Sonja paused, searching for the right words. "The biggest problem with living as long as we have, is that we're forced to watch the rest of the world pass us by. Harlequinn, he's had it worse than most. He has watched his native land of Shosara be torn apart from within out of greed and lust for power by a handful of beings who cared not what they did. He has watched his adopted homeland of Sereatha be destroyed from outside, when the warning he and his fellow Knights raised was ignored. His tears fell on blood soaked soil as the Order he followed was turned on by the very people who they strove to protect, as they were setup and betrayed by those who saw them as a line of defense that could not be bought or bribed to look the other way. He has fallen in love, and watched those same loves slip through the hourglass of time. No one deserves to see what he has been forced to see… The journey of his life has made him strong, but… At times, I wonder if his strength now is what is was in days past. We all have our good times and our bad, but I worry that his strength these days has become brittle… That all of our strengths have, over the years…" She looked up, her eyes focusing again on the here and now, instead of the past, and in that moment, Xander could see the many layers that she hid behind, but for the briefest of seconds, he had seen her core. Caught a glimpse of the young human woman who had herself been through the fires of life, watched her family slaughtered and been raised by a trollmoot, all those millennia past.

But then the moment was gone, and the past, relegated once more to being a specter which would never leave anyone alone, but was always present.

"Remember Alexander. As life weakens our steel, it also reforges it. And that, is the joy and power of life… As long as you have life by the throat, as long as you never let go, you shall conquer all that you face. And that is the core of your power. No matter what the Passions throw in your path, you never falter. And you never let your friends fall when you are at their side. Your strength, its not in your arm, or any weapon you may wield. Your strength, strengths in fact, are in your heart, and your ability to see what those around you cannot. Your strengths protect them, protect all who are in need, from that which they cannot face, cannot see, or cannot feel. And those, Alexander, are the most dangerous enemies of all."

"You already know how to feel and to see… That's the hardest part. Teaching you what to do once you see, once you feel, that is what we shall work on next."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," said Willow as she attempted to summarize the lecture she had just received. "Magic permeates the entire world, that much I already knew. But you're telling me that the level of magic rises and falls as time passes." 

"Correct. Like the sine wave we discussed. At the low point, there is no magical energy at all, and at the high point…." He let the sentence trail off.

"And this takes how many years from peak to peak?"

"About 7,885 years, give or take."

"And right now?"

"Right now," he said ominously. "Right now, we're on the upswing, with most of the world just around the midpoint."

"But not here."

"No, here, due to the presence of the Hellmouth. Here, its much, much higher. The rest of the world has more than twenty, closer to thirty years, before the magical background count is as high as it is here, today. Certain areas have higher background counts. Sunnydale is one of them. Others occur due to certain rituals, spells or events that happened there… "

"And when it gets high enough…"

"When it gets high enough, the bridge will be built, from the other side, and the Enemy will breach our world once more. The Scourge will begin anew."

"Unless we can stop them…"

"A group as small as yours, as small as mine, we can only stem the tide, push back the date, but in the end, they will arrive, and arrive in force. And if mankind is not ready…."

"Then we better be ready," said the young redhead.

"With those like me, like my friends, who have survived. With new blood like you and your comrades in arms, then we will have a chance… No more, no less…"

* * *

Faith looked up from the ancient tome she was studying as she sat against the wall outside of the training area they were using. "Morning B.," she said as warmly as she could. 

The smile which the blonde haired Slayer responded with brought the word 'Feral' to the Boston native's mind as she flowed up to her feet and gently slid the book into the satchel which she slung over her shoulder. Following the elder Slayer, Faith felt a bit of disappointment inside, but she wasn't really surprised that her fellow Slayer was still so cold to her.

As soon as they walked into the training area itself, Katrina was standing there, hand on her right hip as she watched with a predatory look in her eyes.

"So, princess, since you finally decided to join us, am I going to have to take you task again, or are you done with your little pissing contests now?"

Buffy swallowed as she tossed her training bag to the ground. She realized that although she was pretty evenly matched with Faith on the mats, Katrina had already proven she was more than able to toss her around like a rag doll.

It was a thought that didn't exactly calm her down. 'Fine,' thought the blonde. 'I'll learn everything I can from this stone aged pain in the ass and then we'll see who's tossing who around…' Then, out loud, she spoke. "Umm.. Yeah… Sorry about that…"

Saying that the look which Katrina shot Buffy was disbelieving would be generous to say the least. Contemptuous would have probably been closer, but Buffy's eyes were downcast and so she missed it. The ancient spirit pressed on though. "First, it seems I must teach you both something which you have somehow missed during your training to date…"

The two teens looked at each other as they both tried to figure out what is was that not one, but both of them, didn't know.

"The most important thing that any Slayer should never forget, is their true purpose."

"To kill vampires," responded Buffy in a tone which was halfway between snarky and unsure of herself.

The manifested spirit looked at the golden disc which was mounted above the door to the training area, almost as if she longed to return to the slumber from which the Ghost Master ritual had summoned her. "Your knowledge is as lacking as your Talents. Both of you, sit," she commanded as she pointed to the eastern wall. When both teens had complied, Katrina sat on the floor opposite them and began to speak.

"You are Slayers. Vampires are, right now, the most prolific of the Darkness against which we stand. As Slayers, you are a vital part of the line that Name Givers…" Seeing the confused look at the term, Katrina elaborated. "Humanity, human beings, are only one of a variety of races we called Name Givers. Humans, Dwarves, Elves like Har'lea'quinn, Trolls like Kylar, Orks, Windlings which are little folks with wings, and T'skrang, a species I only saw twice while I was alive. Oh, and dragons, but that is a debate which was going on long before my birth and I'm sure continues long beyond even today."

"What, dragon's aren't quite up on the chart you mean?" asked Faith.

Katrina looked at the dark haired Slayer and laughed. "So young and unknowing. No, Faith. Dragons aren't below Name Givers. The debate is how much ABOVE us are they."

"Oh," came the response.

"But that is not of what I was speaking. The Slayers are one line among the brave souls who stand against the Darkness, against the Horrors. But," and her eyes bore into Buffy. "They are not the only line. Warriors and Wizards, SwordMasters, Thieves, Horror Hunters, Archers, Blood Wardens, Watchmen, Knights, Elementalists, Slayers. Each one has their own strengths and weaknesses but only when we stand together do we have a chance against the Horrors…" She paused. "That is something that some of them, the heroes who are closest to the Essence of the Slayer, the Horror Hunters. That's what they forgot." The long dead woman stood and began to pace the padded floor. "You have to understand, it was a dark age which bred the Heroes who fought, and still fight today. The Horrors had devastated the lands, and no one knows how many were lost to their fanged maws, how many were turned against their friends and families. How many killed themselves rather than confront a fate worse than the Dark Lady. The Horror Hunters, they were a sect of Heroes who had looked into the pitch black soul of Oblivion and screamed 'No More!'. They decided that the darkness would take no more souls, not while they stood. Not unopposed." Katrina paused, as if remembering something. "There was a man who I heard about. His name was Edalb. His family was killed by the Horrors when he was but a child. He was forced to watch the entire thing, but he could not cry out, for something was feeding off of his emotions as he watched his family's blood spray across their home. It was something he never forgot, could never forget, as those images were burned into his Pattern for the rest of his days. And, after the Horror had left, Edalb was left along in that bloody home, and he swore that he would die before he watched anything like that happen again. So he buried what little he could find of his family and set out for the horizon. In time, he became one of the mightiest of the Horror Hunters, and he dedicated his entire existence to seeking out the Horrors who roamed the land and during his time, he slew countless of them. But, along the way, as he stared into the Darkness, the Darkness stared back at him. Everything was about cleansing the land, removing the taint which had befallen the people. In time, he stopped caring about the people who he was trying to protect, instead focusing on that which he was trying to destroy."

"I've been told that along the way, his legend had grown so powerful, that he could do no wrong in the eyes of the people, and at terrible cost. He began taking risks, using the innocent as bait, or when he couldn't tell who was Corrupted… Well, the cost was deemed acceptable by those who watched from outside, burn a house to save a village. But what they all forgot was that in many cases, there was no need for any to be lost." The dark skinned spirit turned her ancient eyes to meet first Buffy's, then Faith's. "And that is what makes the Slayer different. The Slayer is not supposed to be separate from those she protects. That is why the mantle is always passed to a young woman, who is not wise to the world, who can be there, surrounded by her Elders and her companions, her friends. Without those balances, she will lose her way and be lost to the Darkness as sure as if she was Marked. If that lesson is forgotten, then the Slayer shall fight, albeit valiantly as the Horror Hunters did in their day. But in the end, without the connection to those important to them, they will give their lives in a futile, symbolic gesture, against odds which no sane person would consider, simply because they know nothing, save the Mission itself. Losing a fight they could never win, instead of saving those who truly matter, all in the name of Honor."

"So," Katrina said as she moved to the center of the room. "Remember what is truly important in your life. That shall keep both you and those you care about alive. Now, both of you… Onto the mats. Because before I can teach you to fight, I have to teach you how to stand…"

* * *

"Think of them as…" Terral closed his eyes and thought. "Think of a car." 

"What kind?" asked Willow.

"Doesn't matter," came the response. "Just think of a car. Visualize it completely in your mind."

"Ok."

"Now, no matter what kind of car you picked, I can tell you some things about it. It has four wheels, inflated with air. It has an engine, which uses fuel, it has doors, windows, pedals and a steering wheel."

"A gestalt in other words," said Willow proudly.

"To a degree, but its not only a gestalt of the item, the person or the place, but the core of the gestalt is the gestalt of all, of every thing which is similar. Every sword, has the same base pattern. Each person as well, shares a pattern that looks like every other person's pattern. Then, as things happen, as they have experience, as things are done to them, the pattern changes, evolves, becomes more complicated." With a gesture, he manifested a glowing image which hung in the air between them. "That which you see, is a representation of your pattern."

Willow gasped at the beauty which she saw before her, the twisting arching and curving beams of light, held in a mass the size of her heart. Another gesture brought a second representation into existence.

If Willow's pattern was beautiful, then this was like looking onto perfection. The pattern was the same, yet vastly different. Millions more strands composed it, fluctuating in color, brightness and intensity, as they ebbed and flowed across and through it. "And this is a representation of mine." He paused for a moment. "As you can see, the base is the same, but mine has far more in it, representing more experience. More skills, more talents, more memories, loves won and lost, pain, conquests and defeats. All are represented in your pattern."

"And everyone has one?"

"Every thing, every person, every place, every animal. The world itself has a pattern, and it is a truly magnificent sight."

* * *

Kylar sat on the end of a moss covered tree trunk which had fallen long ago, and looked at the young man who was opposite him. 

"Nature," began the massive being, "Nature isn't any one thing. It's not this tree, or that flower, or your owl up there. Nature is all of what's around us, encompassing the whole of the world. Nature is the gentle doe and the rabid wolf, both at the same time. It's the mountain spring, and the raging hurricane, and it is that difference, that similarity which is so difficult for those who do not walk our path to understand. And that lack of understanding, that is the Veil which hides the true nature of the world from their eyes while they stand there trying to see it."

Oz, who was listening as he sat Indian style on the moss, nodded without hesitation. "Duality. It's not the leaf of the tree, or the moss," he said as he gently ran his finger over the textured green surface. "It's the tree as a whole, from the roots to the berries and everything in between."

The BeastMaster smiled, his large fangs glinting in the light. "You have already pierced the Veil on your own. You understand that the rabbit is not the wolf, but they are forever woven within each other. One with one set of strengths, with one set of weaknesses. The other, a different set of strengths and weaknesses. Neither is superior to the other in nature, for if one was, they would both vanish from the world, as their natures are interwoven within each other."

"I understand," came the response.

"Now, one who follows our Path, they are at one with nature, not opposed to it. We are not the miners, we are the rock. We are not the woodsmen, we are the oak. We are not the fishermen, we are the ocean. We are in tune with the world around us. The mountains, the canyons, the wilds and the wastes. With time, understanding of even the ebb and flow of the cities of Man shall be yours. Listen to my words, young one. The Beastmaster is the protector of nature, but nature is also our protector. We are one with the world around us, and the world grants us boons which those who cannot see through the Veil shall never be blessed by." The troll took a deep breath and stared into Oz's eyes, and beyond. "Now first, we will teach you to breath, then we will work on showing you more of the world around you."

"Now, since we have gone over the basics of patterns, we now move on to the next aspect. That is of course, assuming you have no question."

"Nope, I think I've got this part down. At least the basics…"

"Very good. Now, if you think of the pattern as a tapestry, comprised of the various threads which represent your abilities, strengths and weaknesses, experiences and memories. Each thread is an important part of the tapestry." He paused and reinvoked the image of his own pattern, bringing a representation of the intricate mass of light and energy into view. "Now, as you can see, I have threads leading from my own pattern…" he waved his hand and several smaller patterns winked into existence. "Into other patterns. Tying my energy into their energy. As you can see," he pointed at on of the threads, "I have tied threads from my pattern to the patterns of things which are important to me."

"Why would you do that?" asked Willow inquisitively as she compared this concept to some of her computer knowledge. "Open ports are always weaknesses which can be more easily exploited."

Although he didn't understand the exact nuance of her words, the words themselves were clear enough. "You are correct in that there are risks involved in tying a thread to your pattern. And, remember, when you tie yourself to another pattern, that pattern in turn is bound to yours. If an enemy should come into possession of an item you are bound to, or that is bound to you, either by thread or by action, then they have a better chance of breaching your defenses."

"Like they've got a passcode maybe? Or are trying to hack you from a trusted address? OK, that makes sense…"

Terral looked at the young redhead. "You and I are going to have to have a discussion about this, hacking, you keep referring to. But, if that makes sense to you, then it sounds like you understand what I am trying to get across. So, there is a risk, but there are also benefits. By tying a thread you can bind an artifact to yourself, allowing control over its powers. You can enhance the abilities of yourself or a trusted ally. Or bind yourself to your friends so that you are far more as a group than you can be individually. But, such things can only be done with people who trust each, who are willing to stand side by side, no matter the cost."

"You, Kylar and Sonja formed such a group, didn't you?"

Terral peered at her. "You're more observant than I gave you credit for." He paused as he rubbed a ring he wore on his right hand. "Yes, we did. Many years, many lifetimes ago. It has great benefits," he said. "And great costs as well."

"Is that how you managed to stay alive these years?"

The magician chuckled. "No. Although the magic which welded us together for our lives is strong, it is not nearly formidable enough to hold off the Dark Lady. It was not our group's magic which sustained us through the rivers of time. All that took was a drop of blood on a rose which will never die, never lose its beauty…" His voice drifted… "Never lose it's thorns…." For a moment, the ageless man was lost in his memories before he shook himself free of the past. "But that is another story… Now, about this, hacking…"

Willow grinned. "Well, where do you want to begin?"

* * *

Harlequinn sipped the tea thoughtfully as he tried to determine where best to begin in today's discussion. Yesterday had pretty much just getting to know one another and having Giles tell him more about his youthful charges. Today was going to start the real meat of the discussions. With a sigh, he realized there was really no way to skip a lot of the background for this and just dove in head first. "I'm going to preface this by saying there is a hell of a lot that modern historians don't know. A lot of knowledge, tragically important some of it, that has slipped from man's collection knowledge and even myths. You said before that the world used to be the domain of demons and monsters…." 

"Yes. The Horrors, you called them. They lost their claim on this world and retreated back to their home dimensions." Giles glanced at the collection of tomes lining his bookshelves, wondering how many of them would be invalidated by what he was now learning.

"True, but only to a point. The height of the magic cycle, a period of several hundred years when the Horrors were at their strongest, we call that The Scourge. During the Scourge, as well as for a period of a few hundred years on either side of it, there were still Horrors around. The weaker ones, after the Scourge anyway, well, we killed some of them, banished others… But the most powerful ones, they weren't forced back by warriors of light or mankind's tenacity. They needed the high magic levels to survive, and so when things got too low, they bailed on their own. But they'll come back…. They always come back."

"And the people at that time, they just watched as these Horrors ran rough shod over the lands?"

The elf looked at Giles, shaking his head slightly. "You're not getting the scale here. These aren't easy things to kill like vampires. Hell, with some good training and weapons, a regular person could stand a decent chance against a vampire. The Horrors are far worse, well some of them anyway. That demon you mentioned, the Judge I think his name was…. That sounds like a Horror of about medium strength. You guys had to use a rocket launcher, something not really around a few thousand years ago, to take him out."

Giles looked a little pale at that assessment. "The Judge could wipe out entire crowds of people, burn the humanity out of them. And you mean to tell me that a creature such as that is no big deal? Frankly, I find that difficult to believe."

Harlequinn's visage hardened for a moment. "You may find it difficult to believe, but that really has no relevance on the truth of my words, now does it! You don't get it Rupert. The things you're fighting, for the most part, are either extremely weak, or magic starved. That's why so many of the more powerful demons flock to the Hellmouth. The level of magic in this area is a couple of orders of magnitude higher than just about anywhere else in the world. That's why the Judge was getting stronger the longer he was here. His system was being recharged by the energy which permeates everything around here. You want to think about truly frightening beings. Verjigorm, one of the most powerful Horrors we know of, hunts great dragons, sometimes it kills them, feasting on their souls, sometimes it tries to corrupt them. We're not even ants to it. Artificer, which makes elaborate labyrinths of tunnels and passages, then loads them with traps and treasures beyond description, simply to lure Name Givers in so that it can feed off their pain, suffering and deaths in the insidious traps it has laid. GiftBearer, who's kind of like the storekeeper in Needful Things… Sets entire towns at each other's throats and waits till friend turns against friend, and family's murder each other. Ristul, who drove three of the Passions, what you might call Gods, insane. Twisting them into cruel parodies of themselves." With this sentence, Harlequinn's fingers moved slightly towards where an amulet would fall against his chest, but the gesture was cut short as he continued. "Those are the kinds of things which are powerful. How do you stop a creature who uses our own flaws against us. Or who is so powerful that hundreds of years of preparation by dedicated magic users can only delay them breaching a citadel?"

Giles tried to imagine the amount of power that a magic user, much less a group of them working in concert, could harness over a hundred years, then pondered something powerful enough to breach those wards. Strong wasn't nearly a good enough word. "I believe I understand things a bit more now…" Taking a sip of his tea, he asked what Harlequinn could tell him about Ezekial.

"Ezekial, although we tended to call him Zeke a lot these days, was a great hero. He's a bit younger than me, about five hundred years or so…

* * *

"Now, focus on the astral, like I taught you. Can you see it?" 

Willow Looked across the warehouse, seeing not just the physical world, but seeing the astral signatures of everything present within the steel walls. "I see it. It's still so weird, being able to see the magic instead of barely feeling it."

"Indeed, it is a complex and beautiful sight. Now, for today's lesson. When you look in the air here in the warehouse, what do you see?"

"Umm, nothing?" said Willow, confusion evident, as she sat beside Terral inside of a mystical circle.

"That's right, its clear. Not much of anything in it. That's because, for safety, I cleansed this area before I warded the building. The astral space is clean, pristine as a mountain spring, within this building. Now, we're going to do something a little more dangerous, but do not worry, I shall protect you. Let yourself loose of your physical form, just like I've shown you. Start with your breathing…"

A moment later, Willow found herself drifting in space, Terral's astral form hovering beside her. "Very good," 'said' her teacher as he made a small gesture with his hands. "You are doing very well when it comes to projecting yourself into the Astral Space. But remember," he said as he gestured to the silver cord which connected her to her body. "While you are here, you are more vulnerable in two realms instead of one, so we shall make this a quick exploration for now." Reaching out, he took her 'hand' and the two floated towards the ceiling of the building. There was some resistance as they passed through the wards the ancient mage had prepared, then Willow found herself floating high above the city she had spent most of her life in. "Now, look here, and tell me the difference between what surrounds you here and what was in the warehouse…"

The young practitioner looked around her, trying first to get her bearing on where exactly they were, and then to actually study her surroundings. "The air, the space itself, it seems… I don't know… Dirtier? More chaotic?"

"Very good! What you are seeing is the effect that the Hellmouth has on the surrounding area. Can you see the school from here?" When Willow indicated she could, Terral continued. "I don't want us to get to close to the Hellmouth, so, I will ask you, can you see it from here?"

Willow glanced over at Terral, almost as to say, 'are you kidding? That's like 10 miles away!' but decided she should see what happened if she tried to look. Focusing her vision, she willed herself to be able to see the high school. "I… I don't know… It's… Hazy… Like there smoke billowing up from deep beneath the school… It." She tried to find the words. "It's coming from underneath the school, rolling out but it gets thinner pretty quickly once you get up to the surface, but its still kind of murky."

"That, unfortunately, is Corruption. Its focused primarily around the Hellmouth itself, but the effects encompass this entire town. Its why people forget. Why its so easy for the demons and monsters to find prey so easily. Why not all the monsters in this damned town aren't demons."

"But we went to high school over it? How come it didn't effect us."

"It did. One of the reasons that you and your friends were able to fight the darkness for so long is that each of you has been acclimated to that kind of power. But, something I noticed when I inspected the ruins of your school was that sometime in the past, wards, very powerful ones, were erected to filter the darkness out of the school itself."

"Like you did at the warehouse?"

"Similar. It was halfway between a cleansing, which cleans the Astral until the Corruption slowly changes it once more, and one of the spell matrixes which I have shown you. Do you understand what I mean?"

Willow pondered this for a moment before responding. "Well, you taught me that spell matrices are used to filter the astral space, to give clean power to a spell caster so they can cast spells safely instead of with the danger that is present by casting raw, where they force the power through themselves to power the spell instead of through the matrix. So, in this case, the entire school was set up to work like a filter, taking the energy which was going to go up through the school anyway, but filtering all the corruption, like a line conditioner or a UPS for a computer."

"Something like that, but remember, no ward is perfect, especially when it is subjected to this much magical energy. Some of the corruption always gets through over time, which is probably why some of the darkness which happened in your school happened. Now, let us return to our bodies before some denizen of the nether regions decides to come investigate our presence."

* * *

The clock on the wall read seven past six when Buffy looked up from the book she was forcing herself to read. Although she had been the Slayer for over four years now, her time training had usually been spent working on more effective ways to dispatch whatever demonic type of thing she came across. Apparently, and this was something that the gang had never really had to deal with too much, there were hundreds of species out there other than humans, who were living on the planet with her. A slew of em were demonic in nature, but all that really meant, she was discovering, was that they came from a different home dimension from her. Ugly appearance didn't automatically mean evil intent, so she was being forced to read up on some of the more common species. Unfortunately, some was being defined by a stack of a dozen thick heavy books. 

Across the room, Katrina was sparring with Faith, who was at a severe disadvantage due to being blindfolded. Surprisingly, Faith was able to block a good percentage of the incoming attacks, while dodging a significant proportion of the rest. Buffy smiled a bit as she watched Katrina snake through the younger Slayer's defenses and grab her by the sleeve, then pivoted and threw Faith over her hip. The smile faltered a bit though when, as she was falling, Faith managed to grab Katrina by the other arm and fling her to the ground as well. As the ghost master recovered, Faith tumbled forward to her feet, where she dropped back into a combat stance.

"Good recovery Faith," said the long dead Slayer. "I believe you show improvement, although there is still much to teach both of you."

Faith pulled the silken scarf from her eyes, a smile on her face. "Feels good too. Pretty soon I'll be the one coming after you, Kat."

"Perhaps… Buffy, I see you were watching the end of our practice. Do you have anything to add?"

The blonde bit her tongue. She really didn't want to say anything nice to Faith, but she had to admit the dark haired Slayer had been working her tail off the past two days. Truth be known, she was probably almost to the point, ability wise at least, where Buffy herself had been after being Slayer for two years. "Well," she hesitated, but continued after Katrina gestured for her to go on. "She's definitely picking it up quick. I was surprised when she grabbed you during that throw. If she hadn't thrown you down as well, you would have been able to follow up while she was down, but she was able to recover fast enough to take your shot away from you."

"Anything you think Faith could benefit from hearing from a slightly," she emphasis was subtle but both Slayers picked up on it, "more experienced Slayer?"

"Well…"

"Tell her, not me," scolded Katrina slightly.

Buffy scowled a bit as she turned her attention toward the other Slayer. "Well… You're fast, but a lot of time…" The blonde paused, not really sure how to say something in a non scathing way to the brunette. After a moment, she decided to just be brutally honest and blunt, about this anyway, and not let anything else affect what she was saying. "Faith, a lot of the time you wade in and stand there while you get hammered on. I mean, you're a Slayer, so you're a hell of a lot stronger than most folks, but a lot of demons out there can bench press tanks. Come in at the edges, take your shots, then move back. What was it that boxer dude said, about a wasp or something?"

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Said by the Great One, Mohammad Ali," Faith grinned. "But you're right, B. I do tend to walk right into the kill zone. Probably not the brightest move, but its worked for me in the past. I'll try to work on that though. Make it tougher on the bad guys at least…" Inwardly, Faith was feeling pretty damn good about herself. She'd been working her ass off, Kat was pleased with her performance and Buffy was at least being civil to her, which was a major step forward.

Katrina smiled. She devoutly hoped that the two would be able to get past the troubled history between them. And although this wasn't much, it was at least a start. "Buffy, why don't you take a couple of those books home tonight and keep going over them. I expect you both back here by nine am, ready to work. Faith, if you have a moment, I need to ask you a couple of questions before you hit the showers."

Even as Faith was heading to the side of the practice mats for a towel, Buffy had slid a couple of books into her backpack and was headed for the door. A quick goodbye to both Katrina and Faith, and she was outside.

* * *

It took her a second for her eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight. As she raised her hand to shield her sight from the sun, her eyes fell upon Xander, who was leaning against the side of his car, thumbing through what looked to be an army field manual. 

Cautiously, she approached him, determined not to waste this opportunity the Fates had lain before her. "Hi Xander," she said softly.

Closing the book, Xander slowly looked up at her, as if he was unsure of how to respond. "Buffy."

'Well, at least he's talking to me,' she thought. "Swinging by to pick up Faith?" she inquired, trying to keep her voice level and not give him any reason to snap at her.

"Yeah, Sonja let me out early. Said I was doing pretty good. Couldn't prove it by me, considering how she's knocking me silly around the mats." He looked past her at the doorway. "You guys just finished up?"

"Well, I did… Was my afternoon for book study while Faith was doing hand to hand with Katrina." 'Say something positive, show him you're not a bitch,' she thought. "She's doing pretty good… Faith, I mean."

"I heard you two had a pretty intense sparring match the other morning… I hope you're both being careful in there, I wouldn't want to see either of you get hurt…" Even as he said it, Xander knew that somebody was probably going to get hurt, sooner or later. And there was no guarantee it would be a physical injury. A deep sigh preceded his next sentence. "Buffy, look, I know things are kinda weird right now…"

Buffy laughed ruefully. 'Xander you have no idea…' She took a breath before launching into her own speech. "Xander, look, I'm sorry that I hurt you. But you have to believe me when I tell you that I finally realize just how much you mean to me. I hate this! I hate how you head the other way when I'm around. Or how tense things have become between us. I know I've been an arrogant self centered brat and that I never could see what was standing right in front of me for the past three years. And what's even more horrible is that as I was coming to realize it, I just about killed you in the middle of a fight."

'Let's see, you drive a stake through my heart, you send Angel to hell. Your ex from Hemery wants to be a vampire. Just racking up the romance wins aren't you Buffy?' Xander tried to keep his face from displaying his emotions. Even as he thought it, he knew he was being overly harsh. But just as he thought that, he also knew that the heart doesn't always make decisions based on what the head says, and as a result people get hurt sometimes when they didn't mean to do anything wrong.

They stood there in silence, Xander trying to sort out his emotions and thoughts, for a heartbeat before Buffy continued.

"I miss you Xand," said the blond as she closed the distance between them to almost nothing.

"I miss you too Buffster," replied the young man. "But," he continued as he stepped back. "But honestly, I don't where… Two weeks ago, yeah, I would have loved to have heard you say all this. But now?"

"But I was too scared to tell you how I felt… Now I'm not, and you…" Her eyes started to show the first signs of tears welling up. "I want to be with you now Xander, and you don't even want to be around me anymore. I want to make this better and I want to be with you, and now you don't even want to hang out with me anymore… I hate all this… Why can't you see what you mean to me?"

Xander reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, giving her the very touch she was begging for, but after a moment, he pulled away again. "Buff. No matter what, you're still my friend. That's not going to change. But right now, no matter what you're feeling, and god don't I see the irony here, right now that's not what I'm feeling. You've said it to me before, we can't change how we feel about people. And the fact is, that right now, we don't have that same connection we used to."

"But I do… I swear to you, I do Xander!"

"Yeah, but Buffy… I don't. I'm sorry, more than you'll ever know, that what happened happened, but it did. And we can't change it. And even if we could… I don't know that I'd want to. Since that night Buff, I've gotten to know Faith, the real Faith. Something none of us had ever taken the time to do. If we had, maybe things would have turned out differently. But we didn't. And so, only now, am I getting to discover the amazingness that she is, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. She makes me feel like nobody else, and I want to know more…. She's…"

Buffy stopped Xander by leaning in and preparing to kiss him on the lips. Only to find herself pushed away. "Buffy, don't."

"But I'm trying to show you just what it is that I'm feeling here and what you're keeping us both from having…"

"And if you keep it up Buff, all you're going to do is completely destroy anything which is left between us. If I mean that much to you Buffy, then you have to let me figure out what I want, and what makes me happy. I did…"

As she heard those words, the tears which had been filling her eyes began to roll down her face. Before the first drop could hit the ground, Buffy was running down the block as fast as she could, sobbing uncontrollably.

Xander watched as she ran away, part of him wanting to run after her, part of him glad he had stood firm.

And behind him, a figure silently slid back through the door to the training area and quietly closed it behind her.

End Chapter 18

* * *

_Coming Soon_  
_Chapter Chapter 19  
(really... I'll try not to take another two years before I release the next chapter) _


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